Doll Princess
by Nemesis of Truth
Summary: The Princess of Japan: she is beautiful, yet quite spoiled. However, apart from the fact that she has an obsessive mother, a coldhearted bodyguard, and a whole admiring nation under her command, she is perfect. Except for one single flaw. AU. WILL EDIT.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Higuchi Tachibana is the rightful owner of Gakuen Alice.

Dedication: To my Friends

--x-x--

**Doll Princess**

By: Nemesis of Truth

--x-x--

Sakura Mikan; she is the beautiful, yet spoiled, Princess of Japan. While she has an overly obsessive mother, a cold-hearted body guard, and a whole nation to rule, there's still one flaw to her almightiness. She's a-a…?!

* * *

Once upon a time, there lived a Princess.

However, she was no ordinary princess, for her extraordinary beauty was known throughout the whole of Japan. Her smile was all it took to capture every man's heart while all women envied her with jealousy in their eyes. All the men sighed after her as she left the room, her strawberry scent tickling their senses.

In other words, she was _perfect_.

Perfect except for one thing, for there was a downside to her perfection . . . but that will come later on in the story. And so, our story begins.

"Mother, _no_!"

A strangled shriek escaped the princess's throat as she wrenched the expensive kimono from the queen's hands and threw it to the ground. "How many times must I inform you that I am _not interested _in clothes," She gritted her teeth. "No wait, _fashion in general_!"

"B-But…" The queen protested. "This is all for you! All I, your mother, wanted was to make you prettier, more beautiful; this is all because you won't accept any of the suitors your father has sent. Please don't be frustrated with me and just try this kimono on, just this once."

Her daughter laughed, annoyed.

"You say that all that time, mother; 'Just one more time' or 'No wait, this one too!'. I'm tired of having to go through this same argument over and over again." She glared at the pile of clothes on her bed before hissing, "In fact, I'm _sick_ of it. I swear, mother, if you buy me another kimono I _will_ run away from home!"

Her mother's eyes narrowed at her daughter's comment. "Don't you _dare_ speak to your mother like that; really, why can't you be more obedient like all the other ladies your age?"

Anger exploded within the princess; then why was it that her mother always compared her to other people, hmm? It was so hard for her to breathe, so frustrating . . .

She screamed.

"Stop it; just stop it! I don't want beauty, I don't need suitors! I can live just fine without them, so just stop trying to control my life!"

And with that, she fled the room.

* * *

"Ahh…" The princess breathed the fresh air that the outside provided. "Now I can finally breathe."

This was Sakura Mikan; the princess of Japan. She had recently turned 16, and that had made it 16 whole years that she had been chased after her mother concerning her _perfection_, 16 years of non-stop choking.

She sighed, "It's not that I don't love mother," She said to herself as she walked through the market street. "But she just treats me like I'm some kind of… doll that she has the right to control."

She shook her head at the silly thought before spotting the kimono store. The owner of it was around her age, and she was the only friend Mikan had been able to befriend in her 16 years of life.

"Good morning, Hotaru." She flashed a smile.

Her best friend, Hotaru Imai; she seemed a bit cold-hearted the first few times Mikan had met her. However, she was an understanding and caring person, and most importantly, did not judge Mikan by her looks.

Hotaru merely nodded at Mikan's greeting as a customer entered the shop. Mikan knew that Hotaru was busy having to take care of the shop, and so, didn't complain. She settled down next to Hotaru as she examined her best friend; merely watching Hotaru at work put Mikan at ease.

Time flew quickly, and just when the sun had started to sink and the sky had turned a reddish orange, an unusual customer stepped into the shop. Mikan observed him carefully. She was sure she had seen someone with similar features of his before, but where? If only she could see his face properly, the hat he was wearing was covering his face blocking her view.

Hotaru didn't seem aware of Mikan's sudden stillness as she greeted the customer as usual. "May I help you?" She asked in her slightly monotone voice.

There was a pause. "Yes." He replied huskily; the customer raised his head a few inches to look at Hotaru. "I would like a black one."

"I apologize," Hotaru said. "But if you do not have permission I cannot give it to you. It's specifically made for _them_." At this, he took out a parchment and handed it to her, which Hotaru unrolled and read. She stared at the customer for a short while before gliding into the back of the shop, leaving Mikan alone with the strange customer.

"Err…" Mikan cleared her throat. "May I ask who you refer to as '_them_'?" The customer remained silent, ignoring her question. Mikan's patience slowly started to run out; she tried again, "Excuse me, who are _them_?"

"And excuse me, but could you shut up?" He asked, obviously annoyed. "And while we're at it, could you stop trying to nose into others businesses?"

Mikan's nostrils flared; this vermin apparently didn't know who he was speaking to. How could he say such rude words to _her_?

"Tell me! Tell me now what you mean by _them_!" She shouted. There was a hint of annoyance and frustration in her voice. "And I say that as an order! Obey me at once!"

The customer took off his hat; it seemed his patience had run out as well. "Who are you to order me around?" He asked coldly.

Mikan's eyes widened. Was it that she was more surprised that he had dared talked back to her, or was it because of those unusually beautiful crimson eyes he possessed and how impossibly gorgeous he could be? She lost her ability of speech as she stared at him in wonder.

The customer, she guessed was around her age, rolled his eyes. "No response." He smirked, his tone mocking.

That brought Mikan back to her senses. She scowled. "I am a high born. You are merely a vermin. I don't know _who_ you are, but I can guarantee you that when I get back home, the first thing I will request of my father will be to get your head."

He frowned at this. "Let's see you try. I am noble-blooded as well, but I don't use power against people who object with me." He looked at her with disgust.

"I-I…" Mikan's cheeks flared with embarrassment as she lost her temper. "Who the hell are you?! I will order for the king to get your head off _at once_!!"

The boy stared at her, blank, and then stunned. He spoke very quietly when he opened his mouth, "Do you know the Royal Family well?"

Mikan's patience had taken its toll.

"Who the hell did you think I was?! I am Princess Sakura Mikan, daughter of King Yukihara and Queen Yuka! Now who the hell are you?!"

And suddenly, the boy had disappeared. She looked around confusedly, her anger now forgotten. It was like a game of hide-and-seek; her purpose was to find where the customer had went. Soon, she realized he was in front of her, kneeling; was he _bowing_?

"I apologize, Princess." He said stiffly.

She stared down at him, shocked at his sudden change. "Err… Uhm, I-I shall forgive you if you answer my question." She paused before continuing, "Who are you?"

The boy stood up from his bow as he replied, once again, stiffly, "Hyuuga Natsume; I will be working as your body guard starting tomorrow."

. . .

. . . "**What?!**"

* * *

**Yours truly,**

_~ Nemesis of Truth_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Higuchi Tachibana is the rightful owner of Gakuen Alice.

Dedication: To my Friends

--x-x--

**Doll Princess**

By: Nemesis of Truth

--x-x--

Sakura Mikan; she is the beautiful, yet spoiled, Princess of Japan. While she has an overly obsessive mother, a cold-hearted body guard, and a whole nation to rule, there's still one flaw to her almightiness. She's a-a…?!

* * *

"What?!"

Mikan stared up at her apparently soon to-be body guard as Hotaru took a glance out from the back of the shop.

"What happened?" She asked. Her monotone voice wasn't affected by the sound of commotion as she looked around for any signs of fighting. "Has there been a Yen explosion or something?" She asked rather sarcastically.

Mikan shrugged, still stunned. Soon after, Hotaru finally stepped out of the closet and handed Natsume, the bodyguard, a black yukata. "That will be ¥15,000."

There was a moment of silence as he took out a dark blue silk pouch and threw it onto the counter. "Thank you." He said, rather coldly, before exiting the shop. All Mikan could do was stare after him and back to the pouch he had left.

Then she slid onto the cushion nearby.

"Is something wrong, Mikan-san?" Hotaru asked as she opened the pouch and started to count the money inside. "Did you see a ghost of some sort? Your face has been drained of color."

Mikan stared down at the floor, her legs felt like jelly. "You know what, Hotaru? I believe I may have seen something _worse_ then a ghost today."

_And _that_ would be my own personal bodyguard._

* * *

"Let. Me. In!"

Mikan's hysterical shrieking rang throughout the palace as she swept into the hallways leading to the royal throne room. The frightened servants bowed at her presence, opening the door for her.

Inside the throne room were King Yukihara and Queen Yuka talking with a few of their most devoted servants when Mikan interrupted them.

"I advise you leave." Mikan said coldly to the servants before turning to her parents. "I believe we have some issues to talk about." She looked from Yuka to Yukihara. "Mother. . . Father . . ."

All the servants bowed themselves out of the throne room, and the draping of the Japanese-styled doors indicated that they were all safely evacuated. Then Mikan finally exploded.

"How could you both do this to me?" She said quietly through gritted teeth. It was obvious the curious servants were trying to eavesdrop to their conversation outside. "How could you get me a bodyguard even when knowing that I have already mastered every martial art and can fully protect myself?!"

Yuka looked nervously at her husband.

"It is for your safety." King Yukihara answered sternly. "All royal family members are required to have bodyguards. Daughter, you were supposed to have a bodyguard the year you turned 13, but you refused so strongly we were unable to."

Then Queen Yuka, who had finally gotten up the courage to speak, continued, "We let you off easily, dear Mikan, you were only a teenager and going through a hard phase. But now you don't have an excuse not to have a bodyguard. You will be required one now and that is an order. Dare try to disobey and you will have brought to yourself very dire consequences."

Mikan stuttered, trying to protest. "B-But…!!"

Her father gave her a strict glare. "Continue, daughter."

Mikan drew in a deep breathe and continued. "If you do not… _dis_-appoint this bodyguard, I _will_ run away! I repeat, I will not have a bodyguard! So just you know that I don't care whatever your consequences are, I will not accept this bodyguard!"

And before her parents could reply back, she had fled the room.

* * *

"Bodyguards!" She snorted. "Bodyguard, my arse…"

Mikan sat up from her futon and hugged her knees tightly against her chest. "I don't need a bodyguard! I'm strong enough to protect myself, why can't they see that?!" She lay back down on her futon, head in her pillow, and shrieked at the top of her lungs. "Go to hell, bodyguards!! Go to hell, Hyuuga Natsume!!"

As she sobbed and wailed, a ghost of a chuckle came from the window-side. "I've never heard or seen a Princess like you before." A husky voice murmured curiously.

Startled, Mikan sat up from her futon searching for any intruders in her room. There, on her window-sill, was that damned Hyuuga Natsume. There was her damned bodyguard. She gasped as she pointed a finger at him accusingly, "You!"

"Yes, and No." He corrected. His expression was still curious as he remained seated on the window-sill. "Yes. Me." He smirked. "And no. Not 'You'. It's Hyuuga Natsume."

Mikan was too stunned for words; just the sight of this beautiful boy made Mikan's spine shiver, but what was with his manners? So rude of him, entering a ladies bed chamber without permission!

"Remove yourself from my window-sill at _once_!" Mikan said as she bit her lip. "You are entering and trespassing, I can get your head off for this!"

"Remove myself from the window-sill?" Natsume asked, repeating her order. He was ignoring the last part of her sentence. "That's pretty straightforward." He smirked before removing himself from the window.

As in, not jumping outside the room but jumping _inside_ the room instead.

Mikan could not believe his guts.

It took a while for her to regain her composure, and when she did, she rephrased her order carefully. "Remove yourself from my _room_ at once. And in case you didn't understand what that meant, I meant get the hell out of my room!!"

He smirked.

"Make me, your royal highness." He said in a sweet-innocent voice that made her feel sick. Was this boy mocking her?!

"How dare you!" Mikan scowled, jumping onto my feet. "Do you know who you're talking to? I am the Princess of Japan!"

The smile on Natsume's face disappeared to be replaced with a solemn glare. "And…?" His voice was unbelievably cold towards her.

Mikan bit her lower lip, stunned at his sudden change.

"B-Because I… I'm the Princess of Japan and I order… I order you to… to get…out?" Her voice became more and more unsure of what she was saying. "…So…. Yes. Get out…"

Natsume quirked an eyebrow, "A few moments ago you mentioned about running away from the palace, didn't you? And now you use that power that you were so determined to get rid of to remove me from your room." He tilted his head slightly to the left, a look of knowing spreading through his face as he smirked, "You're spoiled."

Mikan's cheeks flared up with embarrassment. "H-How did you know?!" She paused, rephrasing her question, "I-I mean how you knew that I was planning to run away? I didn't mean how you do know that I was spoiled, which I am not," She scowled at this before continuing her sentence. "Were you listening to my conversation with mother and father?!"

"I am your bodyguard after all." He shrugged while rolling his eyes. "I must not leave the Princess's side when on duty."

She blinked before muttering under her breath, "Stalker . . ."

"You are the princess and I am your bodyguard." He murmured softly. "All I was doing was my job…"

"Yes, but have you considered how rude it was of you, a mere servant of mine, to have come into my, the princess's, roo-?"

"Who's noble-blooded and who's a vermin doesn't bother me. If I could, I'd rid the whole world of class and status." He looked at her flatly before climbing back onto the window-sill. "Meaning even though you're the princess, I don't feel obliged to follow your orders or to respect you just because I'm lower class then you."

His eyes twinkled for a moment as he watched her stunned, disapproving look before jumping out of sight. "Farewell,_ princess_…"

* * *

Hyuuga Natsume's first day as Sakura Mikan's bodyguard.

The day Hell breaks loose.

Mikan hadn't slept a bit knowing this fact.

Over the night her face had turned pale; all the color had been drained from her. There were dark bags underneath her sleep-deprived eyes and she used unusually skinny. Queen Yuka shrieked at her daughter's hideous appearance, "What happened to you, Mikan?"

Mikan placed herself in the seat next to her mother as she replied quietly, "Nothing, mother, really." She picked her chopsticks up and started to dig into her breakfast laid in front of her. Her mother looked from her daughter worriedly to her husband who was still angry with his daughter for trying to disobey him.

To break the sudden awkwardness in the air, she turned to occupy her thoughts with more cheerful subjects. "Mikan dear, did you know? New cloths are arriving today!"

Her daughter replied to this with a silent frown.

"Not again, mother." She sighed. "I don't want it; you can have them."

Her mother clicked her tongue. "But Mikan, you have no idea where these clothes are being shipped from!! All the way from France, can you believe it?" She seemed to be in 7th heaven talking about clothes. "And besides, those clothes won't be able to fit me; it was specially designed for you."

Mikan groaned. "Could you please let me breathe for once?" She half pleaded and shrieked as she dropped her chopsticks loudly onto the table and stomped out of the dining room. Queen Yuka realized that Mikan had barely eaten; she gasped,

"Daughter, you must eat more to get fuller curves! Come back!!"

* * *

"One of these days…" Mikan grumbled to herself as she set off to Hotaru's kimono shop in the market. "One of these days my mother will be the death of me."

All that commotion with her mother had made her forget all about what a _special_ day it was today. That certain someone who made the day special whispered in her ear, like a reminder,

"… I am at your command, Princess Mikan."

Mikan shrieked; surprised at the sudden breathe on her neck, the familiar husky voice, the… the remembering of what day it was today. She groaned; no, please tell me it wasn't him. Please, don't let it be him. But as she turned around, she knew that it was Hyuuga Natsume. She knew it was her newly acquired bodyguard who had come for his first day of the job.

Nevertheless, she still gasped when she saw his face. Then she groaned once again. "You just had to come and ruin the day, didn't you?"

He merely rolled his eyes before he started to walk besides her, his long strides trying to match up with her shorter ones. Mikan realized he was wearing the black yukata he had bought yesterday from Hotaru.

Realization hit Mikan like a giant wave. "Black Yukata's are for bodyguards only!" She seemed delighted with finally knowing what '_them_' had meant.

Natsume rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's for bodyguards; do you want some applause?" He began to clap sarcastically; this bodyguard was starting to annoy Mikan. "Speaking of which, even though I would much prefer not to I will protect you with all my life, Princess Sakura Mikan." He bowed, a short nod, before continuing to walk.

Mikan gave a small shudder, just the thought of having to meet Natsume everyday sent shivers down her spine. Thankfully, he didn't seem to have noticed this and kept walking.

"So… Bodyguard-san…? Or should I say Natsume?" Mikan turned to him as he looked down. "Call me 'Your Highness' or 'Princess Sakura (-sama)'. I won't accept any nonsense like you calling me by my first name, 'Mikan'. Listen, this is an order and I expect you to follow it." She gave him a stern look to tell him she was serious. The smirk that had been etched across his face disappeared instantly.

"Didn't you hear me yesterday? I don't care if you are the princess, I'll be calling you whichever that pleases me." The smirk returned to his face. "Princess Mikan."

Mikan's jaw dropped.

"Y-You…" A vein twitched somewhere on her forehead. "I am the Princess of Japan, god damn it!! You get back here!! Stop right there!!" Natsume's smirk widened as Mikan started to chase after him. "I will make you follow my orders Hyuuga,"

"_Someday I will_!!"

* * *

**Bad start to a relationship, don't you think? RxR**

_~ Nemesis of Truth_


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Higuchi Tachibana is the rightful owner of Gakuen Alice.

Dedication: To my Friends

--x-x--

**Doll Princess**

By: Nemesis of Truth

--x-x--

Sakura Mikan; she is the beautiful, yet spoiled, Princess of Japan. While she has an overly obsessive mother, a cold-hearted body guard, and a whole nation to rule, there's still one flaw to her almightiness. She's a-a…?!

* * *

"Hell…" Mikan grumbled to herself. "This place is a living Hell."

She swept up her bag and prepared to leave; one more minute alone with her bodyguard and she didn't know what kind of other idiotic things she would say to him . . . _again_.

As Mikan stepped out of the room, she swung the bag in front of Natsume, "Here, hold it."

However, Natsume didn't make a move to grab it.

Mikan's eyes stung with embarrassment and shock as she swung the bag over her shoulders. "Fine!" She snapped. "Fine, I'll stop acting like the spoiled princess I am and hold the stupid bag myself!" She began to stomp off.

Natsume smirked, "So you do know that you're spoiled?" He asked mockingly. The sound of his voice brought annoyance within her; she twirled around to face him angrily.

"I never acknowledged I was spoiled, you're the one who decided I was!" She said through gritted teeth. Just then Queen Yuka poked her head into the hallways.

"Did I just hear my beautiful daughter's voice?"

Mikan froze on the spot, her back towards her mother, her eyes twitching. This day just couldn't get worse, could it?

"Oh yes, there you are Mikan!" Queen Yuka's giddy voice drew closer and closer towards Mikan. "Are you happy with the new clothes? No wait, you don't need to answer! I mean, of course you are happy. After all I chose them for you and I have _fine_ taste."

Mikan sighed as she stomped off ignoring her mother, as she thought to herself, "Show off . . ."

* * *

"Go away, stupid."

"No."

"I said go away, and that is an order!" Mikan paused. "Wait, damn it, you don't take orders… Err…" She finally gave up on trying losing her bodyguard's death grip and instead started to annoy him, hoping that this would make him stop following her.

"Idiot…"

Natsume didn't reply.

"Stupid…"

Natsume gave no response.

Mikan was slowly starting to lose her temper. "Hyuuga; you're a complete idiotic, stupid, dumb, weird, stupid, emotionless, blank, stupid, mean, wicked, and did I mention stupid? You are a _stupid_ person!"

Natsume finally stopped his ignorance towards her and glared down; one word was all it took him to get into an explosive mood, "Spoiled."

Mikan's face became a dark shade of red before she retorted, "Stop assuming I'm a spoiled brat! Fine, if you like to call me spoiled so much then call me it! But I hope you're aware of the consequences because I, Sakura Mikan, Princess of Mikan, am so going to get you murdered soon!" She took in a deep breath as a murmur broke out through the mob that had crowded around them. "In other words, just listen to me and stop being rude, you jerk!"

With that, the crowd dispersed to let her through and everyone broke into chatter.

"My lord, was that the princess?"

"Why is she so angry? Is that her fiancée, did he do something to her?"

"Mummy, buy me another dumpling!"

"Murdered? As in she's going to order his head off?"

Natsume growled; no one was going to get their head off and that was final! His narrowed eyes glanced around the mob that had made a circle around him, and everyone started to back away.

Maybe, he wondered, maybe if he killed all these people, then. . .

He made a move to grab his katana when an old man started to shove his way through the crowd. "Whoa, wait! Stop there, we should talk things out with words. Let's not cause a fight in public, shall we?" He reasoned as he finally came into Natsume's view.

This old man, Natsume thought, he was unbelievably familiar looking. His piercing blue eyes, so unusual for Japanese, his gentle features making Natsume feel calmer inside. He dropped his hand away from his katana.

"Who are you?"

"A doll maker; let me introduce myself, I am Rein Sinsagai." He smiled once again. "How about we go to my house and have a cup of tea? It will make you feel better, and I'm sure _she _will be glad to have you off her shoulders for a few minutes, don't you think?" He paused. "And I mean no offense."

The doll maker shrugged, relaxed.

Natsume felt unexpected warmth spread within his body, but he ignored this as he turned away from the man. "I apologize but I have gotten orders that I must stay with the princess at all circumstances." He gave a short bow before walking away. "Good day to you."

As the crowd started to disperse, Rein Sinsagai looked to where Mikan and Natsume had disappeared to and sighed,

_Hyuuga Natsume and Sakura Mikan; how interesting… How very, very interesting; yet, if anything more then friendship sprouts between them, everything will end as a tragedy. . ._

* * *

As the last of the servants bowed themselves out of the room, Queen Yuka turned to her husband worriedly.

"Husband, I must talk to you about a problem concerning our daughter. What if, what if she finds out? Especially now with that Hyuuga Natsume bodyguard you have appointed her. . ."

The king raised a hand, beckoning for her to stop; he rubbed his temples, a stressed look spread across his face. "Yes, I know, Yuka. They both are… not like us." He sighed. "But let us leave it to Fate and Luck for a little longer, shall we?"

The queen sobbed, defeated. "Yes, let us."

"H-Hotaru…!"

The entrance to the kimono shop creaked as Mikan dashed in, out of breath. Her chest ached from too much running, but she didn't care. "You need to find a place for me to hide! I don't care where it is; I need to hide from him!"

Hotaru tilted her to the side, thinking.

"¥5000?"

Mikan nodded vigorously. "Whatever it takes you to find me a place to hide!"

A small smile etched itself across Hotaru's emotionless face before she murmured, "But I don't guarantee that you won't be found. It's a 50:50 chance." And with that, she shoved Mikan into the deepest part of the back of the store.

"Stop-Right-There…"

Just then Natsume's familiar husky voice echoed within the kimono shop, he also, was out of breath. Mikan gave a small shriek at the look on his face before running inside and taking cover. Hotaru turned towards Natsume and greeted him, acting like nothing unusual had happened.

"May I help you?"

Natsume eyed the back of the store. "Yes, move out of my way."

"I apologize, but the back of the shop is for employees only." She smirked. "And I believe that the only employee here is me, so you may not enter."

"Then who was that in the back of the shop just now?" He asked coldly. "Refuse my request, and you are refusing the royal family of Japan."

Hotaru shrugged.

"And if I accept your request, then _I _am refusing the request of the princess of Japan." Then she rolled her eyes, sarcastically. "Oh, my bad; I just told you it was the princess."

Natsume grit his teeth, was she mocking him? Then he had no choice.

"Can't figure the problem with words, you figure it with your weapon; my grandfather always said." He made a motion to grab his katana when Hotaru raised her hand.

"No weapons in the shop."

There was a pause as she thought for a moment before she smirked. "But, if you pay me more then what Mikan-san paid me, I'll let you through."

Natsume narrowed his eyes before fidgeting for his money pouch. "How much?" He asked, defeated, as he took out a black silk pouch this time. Hotaru held up 5 fingers indicating Mikan had paid ¥5000.

Natsume slammed ¥6000 on the counter. Hotaru nodded her head towards the back of the store, and he glided in without another word. As a smirk ran across his face triumphantly, he said in an unbelievably sweet and innocent tone,

"Princess Mikan, I've come for you."

* * *

**Hotaru and Natsume unexpectedly connected . . . with money xD!!**

_~ Nemesis of Truth_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Higuchi Tachibana is the rightful owner of Gakuen Alice.

Dedication: To my Friends

--x-x--

**Doll Princess**

By: Nemesis of Truth

--x-x--

Sakura Mikan; she is the beautiful, yet spoiled, Princess of Japan. While she has an overly obsessive mother, a cold-hearted body guard, and a whole nation to rule, there's still one flaw to her almightiness. She's a-a…?!

* * *

"Princess Mikan, I've come for you."

Just at that moment, a strangled shriek erupted from within the deepest part of the closet. It was no doubt Mikan's voice.

Natsume's heart leaped at the voice; was she in trouble? As he looked around more hurriedly this time, her screaming became more deafening and started to hurt his poor ears, but he didn't care; if she was in mortal danger and got hurt, the royal couple would not be very pleased.

"Princess Mikan!"

The shriek instantly stopped leaving a horrible chilliness. A shiver crawled up Natsume's spine. What was happening?

A few steps in front of him, he saw a pale figure sprawled on the ground. He stepped closer towards her and poked his foot at it. "You; are you alive?" The figure gave no response and lay still on the floor. Natsume felt beads of sweat roll down his forehead as he bent down on his knees to observe her more carefully when . . .

"Hah, totally tricked you!" Her eyes opened to show twinkles of amusement while she stuck her tongue at him. "You should've seen the look on your face!" She burst into a fit of giggles.

Natsume jumped back onto his feet, alarmed.

"What?!" He asked unbelievably as Mikan sat up, brushing the dirt from her kimono.

Mikan put a finger to her chin. "Hmm, so you really believed that something had happened to me? I guess I was made to be an actress then, don't you think?" She gave out a hearty laugh before standing up when she realized Natsume's shoulders were shaking,

"Whoa! Wait, are you crying, _Bodyguard-san_?"

Natsume slowly raised his head to face her and Mikan knew at once that he hadn't been crying.

In fact, his shoulders had been shaking from anger.

"Bodyguards never cry." He said coldly, an evil smirk spreading across his face. "Only little spoiled princess's do. Oh, and as for your acting? It was pathetic."

There was a moment where both stared at each other with venom in their eyes. Then Mikan broke the stare by sticking her tongue at him. "I know that you're jealous of my acting, stop lying." She said playfully before dashing out of the closet.

Natsume grit his teeth.

So this princess was spoiled_ and_ full of herself.

He shook his head; this Princess Mikan was completely unbelievable, completely unbelievable yet it made him feel all warm and good inside. So was she unbelievable in a good way or a bad way? He sighed before gliding out of the closet himself.

"Princess Mikan, I recommend we go back to the castle now." He said; that good and warm feeling inside him was making a blush creep through his cheeks. No, wait; it wasn't a blush, he corrected himself, he was just feeling a little sick.

The sky had darkened and had already turned to the shade of orange' ish blue now. Mikan groaned as she noticed this. "B-But… I don't want to! When I'm at the palace it feels like I'm being choked by something." She muttered under her breath, "Mostly by my mother." She noticed the sudden seriousness in Natsume's face and whimpered, "Fine, fine; I'll go back home then."

She stomped out of sight before Hotaru or Natsume could stop her. Then Hotaru turned towards him, holding her hand out,

"She never paid her ¥5000; pay up, bodyguard."

* * *

"You owe me ¥5000."

"It's_ only_ ¥5000, Natsume." She rolled her eyes.

"Give-it-back…" Natsume growled; apparently, this princess was not only spoiled and full of herself, but she also didn't know how to value the importance of a ¥.

"Gosh, you're such a miser." Mikan stuck her tongue at him before starting to walk again. The long, swishing hair that was Mikan's hair blew into Natsume's face, and this brought an idea to his head. He felt a smirk run across his face; fine, if she was so insistent on not paying his money back, then he had no choice; he would make her pay with something else instead.

_Swish_

And that was it; dept paid.

"Oh no…" Mikan gasped to herself as she froze on the spot. "Don't tell me you…!" She twirled around to see that strands of auburn hair were flying through the chilly January wind. Her mouth opened to form an 'O' before a silent shriek escaped her throat.

"You…" Mikan whispered as she looked from Natsume to her hair. "You jerk!"

"You brought it onto yourself." Natsume said, feeling a little guilty. But her hair was only a few cm shorter now, no one would notice . . . right?

* * *

"Oh. My. God…"

Yuka silently exclaimed as she stared at Mikan who had just arrived back at the palace. Natsume silently disappeared into the shadows as he thought to himself,

_Why didn't I think about her fashion-sensitive mother?_

Mikan gulped; her thoughts were different.

_No, no more lectures; damn it!_

* * *

"Husband, you should've seen her hairstyle!"

Yuka silently pouted as Yukihara listened to her ranting without disruptions.

"Wife, she must've gotten that horrible sense of fashion from you." He shook his head teasingly. "If only she had gotten my fashion sense."

Yuka scowled.

At that moment, the servants outside called out, "The royal doll maker has arrived, your royal highnesses."

"Ahh…" Yukihara rubbed his temples for a moment before answering back, "The time has come then. Let him in." His wife sat with a grim expression plastered across her face. The king, noticing this, said. "At least _try_ to put on a welcoming expression, would you? Don't forget that you're the queen of this nation."

"Yes, yes. I'm sorry." She briefly said before fixing her face.

The Japanese-styled doors slid open as the royal doll maker made his way in and bowed deeply in front of them. "What an honor to be graced with your presences. It is an honor indeed, royal highness, imperial highness."

"Please, make yourself comfortable."

The old man looked up from his bow; his piercing blue eyes twinkled as he smiled gently, "I, your loyal doll maker, Rein Sinsagai, am at your command."

* * *

**Well, that sure was a short chapter… Felt like a century to me ;;**

_~ Nemesis of Truth_


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Higuchi Tachibana is the rightful owner of Gakuen Alice.

Dedication: To my Friends

--x-x--

**Doll Princess**

By: Nemesis of Truth

--x-x--

Sakura Mikan; she is the beautiful, yet spoiled, Princess of Japan. While she has an overly obsessive mother, a cold-hearted body guard, and a whole nation to rule, there's still one flaw to her almightiness. She's a-a…?!

* * *

"I, your loyal doll maker, Rein Sinsagai, am at your command."

He gently looked from the king to the queen.

"I believe you are curious about the future of your daughter and what dangers lay waiting for her?"

"Y-yes…" Yuka gulped. She stared at her husband intently to continue the conversation. Her husband looked as worried as she did as he looked towards the doll maker finally.

"Have some Goya Tea." He motioned towards the table in front of them. "It has been years since we have last met, hasn't it?"

The doll maker hesitated before he took the tea. "I apologize for taking your time away; I am sure you both are very busy people."

Yuka scowled at this. "We do not find this time worthless; you are our very old friend and you saved us. No time spent with you, Rein-san, is wasted time; that is what I believe." Out of hurry, she accidentally hit the tea table with a fist sending the tea to drop all over her expensive kimono. Though the tea was hot, she stopped herself from screaming and apologized, "Excuse me." A deep red blush etched across her face before she dashed out of the room murmuring something about how hard it would be to get the stain out of the kimono.

The king stared awkwardly after his wife before he turned back towards the doll maker. "Shall we continue?"

* * *

"Bye, bye, stupid clothes!"

Mikan giggled happily as she stared at the pile of shredded pieces of clothing. Natsume looked at the pile guiltily.

"The queen will not be very pleased at this." He muttered. Speaking of the Devil, he thought, as the queen dashed into the room to see if Mikan had tried on the new kimonos she had bought.

"Oh-My-God…!" She looked from the pile of shredded clothing to her own daughter. A look of mixed horror and anger spread across her face. "Do you know how much those kimonos cost? They were made by the most well-known kimono maker in Japan; Mikan, you…" She searched for the right words. "You disappoint me!"

And with that, she dashed out of the room.

Natsume smirked.

"I guess you got your personality from your mother?" He asked. Mikan twirled around at him, giving him a stern glare, before turning back to the shredded clothing. Then, she grabbed the pile and threw them into the trashcan.

"Ahh… That feels so much better!

Natsume smiled himself as he stared at Mikan's jovial expression. Then he started heading towards the door, "I will take my leave for today, then, if you have finished. There's a family issue at home and I've already gotten permission from the head bodyguard." He bowed before opening the Japanese-styled doors when Mikan's smile disappeared.

"No! Why are you going?"

He muttered something under his breath, something about Mikan being too nosy, then replied, "There are family issues that I must attend to."

Mikan wasn't going to give up so easily. "And that is?"

Natsume sighed; the princess was persistent as always, "Today is the day of my mother's death." He saw Mikan's face drop even more as he excused himself from the room; he did _not_ want to deal with her sympathy towards him. As his footsteps echoed throughout the hallway, he heard the door sliding open once again as Mikan shouted after him,

"Stop! No, don't go; wait!"

Surprised that she had dared followed him, Natsume started to lengthen his strides; he was sure she couldn't keep up with the pace he was going, but he was wrong. A moment later, Mikan had dashed across the hallway to block him from going elsewhere. "Please, no; stop! Take me with you!"

He stopped to a halt. What did she just say?

As if answering his unasked question, Mikan cleared her throat and repeated, "Take me with you to your mother's grave. I would like to pay my respects to her."

Natsume blinked.

"Are you stupid? You don't need to."

Mikan pouted. "But I really, really want to go!" Her tone turned pleading as she looked up at him, her puppy dog eyes unbearable. Surprisingly this brought a light blush spread across Natsume's face. Trying to hide this, he lowered his face, which Mikan took to being a nod; she beamed, "Thank you! Thank you so much for taking me!"

Natsume looked up, alarmed, "What?!"

"Come on; don't take your answer back." Mikan rolled her eyes as she beamed. "You just nodded, so that means yes; right?" She grabbed his hand and began to pull him towards the exit of the palace. "Let's go!"

Another blush crept onto his face; this time it was much darker. "Idiot, let go of my hand. You're going to spread all your spoiled germs onto me." He muttered, his blush becoming brighter. He swatted her hand away before lengthening his strides so much that Mikan had to run to catch up with him.

"Wait up, Natsume!"

* * *

The Hyuuga Mansion was beautiful, though it wasn't as gorgeous as the Palace of Japan. Still, it could pass off as one of the top 5 well-designed houses of Japan. As Mikan and Natsume glided into the garden, a raven-haired girl similar looking to Natsume opened the gate.

"Oh…" was her first response to Mikan, but then she beamed. "Welcome to our house; I'm Hyuuga Aoi." At that moment, a man around his 40s came rushing out of the mansion as well. He looked stunned that Natsume had brought home an unexpected guest, a very important guest, and bowed deeply. "Welcome, Princess Sakura."

"Thank you so much, Hyuuga-san." Mikan beamed as she tilted her head to the side. "So when are we going?"

Aoi blinked. Hyuuga-san blinked.

"Going where?"

"Your mother's grave; where else?"

Natsume looked to his father and sister and shrugged before giving them the 'I didn't invite her, she just followed me' look. Without any words, he strutted inside the house. There was a pause. Then Hyuuga-san gasped, "How rude of us, please, make yourself at home." He bowed deeply towards Mikan as he motioned for her to go inside.

The inside of the Hyuuga Mansion was similar to the Palace, though it was much smaller. "This place has a quaint feeling." She commented as she observed.

Then, the peaceful silence of the house was interrupted by a shriek that erupted from upstairs.

"Natsume-kun; let me go, I must pay my respects to Mother-in-Law as well! Please, take me!" There was stomping and scuttling as footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. "Natsume-kun, why won't you take me? Take me with you to the grave, please!"

Then there was a silence.

Natsume had appeared at the stairs with a girl following close behind him. When her emerald green eyes fell upon Mikan, she bit her lip, envy and jealousy exploding within her. "Are you not taking me to Mother-in-Law's grave because of her?!" She pointed an accusing finger at Mikan.

All Mikan could think of at that moment was that this girl was… pretty.

Mikan looked at the girl, on her knees, begging to Natsume; she looked to be slightly taller then her own 5'5. Her shoulder-length dark green hair curled slightly at the very tips and her emerald green eyes sparkled with tears.

And this girl was angry at Natsume because of _her_. Mikan felt guilt rise up within her, "Stop it; don't be so rude to Natsume."

There was another silence as the Hyuuga members and the girl stared at Mikan with shock. The girl finally opened her mouth to speak, "Whoever you are, you're never going to take my Natsume-kun away." She bit her lip just at the thought of it. "You're a bit full of yourself, aren't you? You think you know my Natsume-kun so well; but you're wrong. He's mine and _only_ mine. And if you are planning to take him away, remember the name Shouda Sumire." With that, she leapt up from the floor and glided back upstairs to her room.

Mikan's shock was surreal; had that girl just screamed at her? Had she just screamed at the Princess of Japan?

She lost the ability to speak for a while as she opened her mouth and closed it, looking like a fish out of water. Then she finally brought herself to ask Natsume, "Who is she?"

Natsume did not reply.

Instead, he walked out of the house, away from Mikan's question and everyone's waiting eyes. Mikan gulped, suddenly afraid of the answer, before turning towards the other family members. Aoi, who was brave enough to talk in this situation, grabbed Mikan's hands tightly, "Please be careful, Princess Mikan; when Sumire-san says stuff like that she means it."

Mikan felt dizzy. "But that's not the answer I asked for. _Who is that girl_?"

"It's…"

Aoi looked from her father, and then to where Natsume had left the conversation, before continuing,

"It's… Sumire-san is… she's Natsume's fiancée . . ."

* * *

**Yes people, you heard right. Sumire is Natsume's fiancée xD**

_~ Nemesis of Truth_


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Higuchi Tachibana is the rightful owner of Gakuen Alice.

Dedication: To my Friends

--x-x--

**Doll Princess**

By: Nemesis of Truth

--x-x--

Sakura Mikan; she is the beautiful, yet spoiled, Princess of Japan. While she has an overly obsessive mother, a cold-hearted body guard, and a whole nation to rule, there's still one flaw to her almightiness. She's a-a…?!

* * *

"It's… Sumire-san is… she's Natsume's fiancée . . ."

There was a silence.

"H-He… had a fiancée?" Mikan finally choked out, unbelieving. Hyuuga-san had a guilty look plastered across his face before he silently glided outside of the house after Natsume.

Mikan faced Aoi, "Explain; explain everything to me."

Aoi gulped, looking at the doorway with want where her brother and father had easily run out of this conversation. She sighed, "Well . . ."

* * *

"_Ahh…" Sumire gasped as she arrived at the Hyuuga Mansion. _

_There was a beautiful looking boy sitting outside in the front yard, playing with his little sister. Sumire seemed dazed for a few moments before she looked up at her mother and exclaimed, "He's so pwetty, mommy!"_

"_Then why don't you go make friends with him?" Her mother smiled gently before nudging her daughter towards the two children. As if she didn't need any further instructions, Sumire dashed towards Natsume and Aoi, "Let me be fwends with you! We can be best fwends!"_

_Aoi, the younger child, looked confusedly from her brother to Sumire. "Bwotha? Who?" Her older brother merely shrugged, and that's when Sumire caught a glimpse of crimson eyes; she gasped._

"_Pwetty eyes!"_

_Unconsciously, Sumire's hands had placed themselves on his shoulders, trying to get a better view of his eyes. Aoi was furious. "No touch my bwotha Natchume!"_

"_Natsume?" Sumire beamed as Natsume scowled. "Natsume!"_

* * *

"_Sumire-chan…"_

_Sumire looked up, tears glistening in her eyes. "Mommy and daddy is gone? They no longer is here?" She asked Hyuuga-san. He nodded solemnly, making Sumire burst into tears. _

"_I'm very sorry, Sumire-chan." He paused. "If I could, I would like to help you; is there anything you'd like? Would want?" _

_There was a pause as Sumire thought. "Anything?" She finally asked._

"_Anything."_

_At that moment, Aoi and Natsume were playing in the other side of the room, not listening to Hyuuga-san and Sumire's conversation. Sumire eyed Natsume carefully before saying in a loud and clear voice, "I want marry Natsume-kun."_

_Natsume looked up from the castle he and Aoi had been making. "What?" He asked confusedly. "What did you say?"_

"_I want to marry you!" Sumire said, beaming her best smile._

_She was delighted that she had finally caught Natsume's attention; delighted that she had another important person in her life to wash her sorrow of her parent's death away; delighted at the mere thought that she was going to live her life with Natsume._

_Natsume opened his mouth, half confusedly and half furiously. _

"_No!" He said. "I no like you! You suck!" _

_Hyuuga-san closed his eyes, looking away from the scene; a look of pure confusion etched across his face as he thought deeply. He knew that his current decision would affect his son's life forever. But as he reopened his eyes and looked at Sumire, the girl who had lost everything, he knew that his decision would end up as this, _

"_Natsume, you are engaged to Sumire from now on."_

_As soon as Natsume had heard those final words, the world around him broke into pieces. It was just like how the castle broke; the one he and Aoi had been working hard onto make that day. _

_That day changed everything in his life._

* * *

"Witch…" Mikan muttered under her breath as heavy stomping could be heard from upstairs. She glared at the noise that wouldn't stop and stuck her tongue at it like a child.

Aoi giggled.

"Now, now… Today is an important day." She pointed towards the noise upstairs and rolled her eyes. "Don't let that ruin it for you."

Mikan beamed at Aoi. "You're right; let's go."

* * *

"Pardon me?!"

King Yukihara choked on the gulp of tea he had just drunk as the doll maker looked away politely. The king took a while as he tried to clear his throat.

Finally, he repeated, "Pardon me?"

The doll maker placed his cup of tea on the table before answering, "If you wish to prevent anything from happening to the royal princess that is what I recommend you must do."

There was a silence.

"_Must_ I do it?"

It was so obvious how the princess would react to his decision, the king thought sourly before sighing.

"Well, if that is what you recommend, Rein; if that is what you recommend would save my daughter I suppose I must do as you say."

* * *

The Hyuuga's bowed deeply as the princess and her bodyguard started back towards the palace. The day had gone by too fast for Mikan's own good; the sky was now a purplish blue and the two were admiring the beauty of the night sky.

But the tranquil peace was ruined as a royal messenger came running towards them in a hurry.

"Princess Sakura," He breathed. "His highness beckons you to his chamber. He says it is very urgent; please, follow me."

"Huh? Urgent?" Mikan looked confusedly up at her bodyguard before shrugging, "You can go back home if you want; I don't think I'll be leaving the palace again today."

Natsume nodded before he turned around to make his way back towards the Hyuuga Mansion. And slowly, Mikan started following the messenger back towards the palace as well. However, when Mikan stepped foot into the throne room, she felt an unexpected chilliness within; like something bad was going to happen.

"I have come; father, mother."

Mikan realized something was different about her parents; for one, Queen Yuka's face had become red and blotchy like she had been crying. Meanwhile, her father had a solemn look on his face, he was rubbing his temples like he usually would when he was feeling stressed. She felt a shiver run up her spine.

"What is this urgent news?"

Queen Yuka took out a handkerchief wiping her tears before King Yukihara finally opened his eyes; the look in them told Mikan that something very bad, something worse then she was expecting, was going to happen.

The king took a deep breathe in,

"Sakura Mikan, dear daughter," He motioned for a boy to step out of the line and come to his side. "Your mother and I have come to the decision that it is best for you to get engaged. Meet Andou Tsubasa; your newly engaged fiancée."

* * *

**Gosh, I can so not imagine this happening ;; (Even though I wrote it)**

_~ Nemesis of Truth _


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Higuchi Tachibana is the rightful owner of Gakuen Alice.

Dedication: To my Friends

--x-x--

**Doll Princess**

By: Nemesis of Truth

--x-x--

Sakura Mikan; she is the beautiful, yet spoiled, Princess of Japan. While she has an overly obsessive mother, a cold-hearted body guard, and a whole nation to rule, there's still one flaw to her almightiness. She's a-a…?!

* * *

"Meet Andou Tsubasa; your newly engaged fiancée."

There was a moment of confusion as Mikan looked from Tsubasa to her father; then realization hit Mikan like a heavy pile of bricks.

"F-Fiancée?" She finally choked out. "Pardon me?"

"Yes, _your_ fiancée, Mikan," Her father repeated. Andou Tsubasa smiled nervously from King Yukihara to Princess Mikan. "Ah… Yes, Tsubasa, this must be your first meeting with our daughter; Sakura Mikan. My wife and I hope that both of you would get along well."

"Yes, of course." Tsubasa bowed deeply.

Mikan blinked; engaged to this stranger? She didn't even know him!

"Father, there must be a misunderstanding. How in the holy lord's name did you get the idea that I needed a fiancée?"

The king's stern eyes softened at his daughter's hurt face, "Mikan, you are princess of this nation; our family is pure-blooded, we tend to not like it when our blood is mixed with commoners. And to maintain that royal blood, we must stick together."

Mikan licked her lips.

Then why couldn't it be Hyuuga Natsume? He was noble-blooded after all, wasn't he? No, wait, she bit her bottom lip; why'd _he_ come into this conversation out of the nowhere? It's not like she cared or loved him, right? In fact, she down-right despised him. And on top of that, he was already engaged; so why was it that he had first come to mind when her father had said the word 'fiancée'?

She gulped, "Let's be reasonable, father, I don't even know this person! He's a complete stranger to me. I refuse to get engaged to-" The words that were flowing out of her mouth came to a halt as she saw the look on her father's face.

"You haven't even given Tsubasa a chance to talk to you. Until your engagement party, which will be tomorrow night, you should give him a chance to get to know you."

Mikan sighed; she knew that when her father had made up his mind she wouldn't be able to convince her father to change it. Her mother, on the other hand, was too weak-hearted to refuse Mikan. She turned eagerly to make eye-contact with her mother; however, this time was different as Yuka merely turned away. Not believing what was happening Mikan's gaze fell upon Tsubasa who grinned a nervous smile while her father gave an appraising look at his soon to be son-in-law.

What the hell was going on?

* * *

Really, this could _not_ be happening; right?

A variety of exquisite hair ornaments and jewelry were scattered all over the place in front of her. On the futon was her engagement kimono, neatly folded, the shoes and socks laid gently on top. Across the room was the make-up table which was filled with all the latest powders and perfumes, courtesy of her mother. She was feeling pity for herself. Poor, poor Mikan; she had to marry a complete stranger, a stranger that could possibly be a total freak. As she sighed, that feeling quickly dissolved and was replaced with anger; why hadn't she been more aggressive with her parents? Maybe she wouldn't be in such a horrid situation if she hadn't chickened out on the last minute. She grunted, dissatisfied with herself, as she grabbed one of the ornaments and threw it across the room. As her anger disappeared as fast as it had come, Mikan hugged her knees tightly to her chest as she started to rock back and forth trying to calm down. She soothingly whispered to herself, "Its okay Mikan, everything will be fine."

But she didn't feel fine; not a single bit.

Maybe, just maybe, she thought, if she angered her parents very much then they would call the engagement off? Mikan looked around the place; there were many ways to anger her parents. For one, there was the kimono that she could rip into pieces. Then she could burn all the ornaments to ashes while she donated her make-up to the beggars at the market. She could act rudely to her fiancée as well. There was just so many different ways to disappoint the royal couple.

Then she snorted.

Was she kidding herself? They were her parents! She wouldn't be able to live peacefully, knowing that she had tried to hurt them deliberately like that. She reached out to grab a dozen of ornaments lying in front of her; throwing these ornaments would at least help her let some of the anger out. Her grip on the ornaments tightened and the sharp edges dug into her sensitive skin like a pair of knives.

She watched her arm swing back when a hand clasped itself around her own.

"No, don't do that."

The ornaments in her suddenly weak grip dropped back onto the floor as she let out a surprised gasp. "…Natsume?" She asked as she started to recover from her shock; she knew by now that the only brave enough human to walk into her room without knocking would be him. Mikan felt the corner of his lips twitch to pull up to a smirk as he gently let go of her hand again; it limped pathetically down to her side. Outside, the sky had turned a pitch black color; so why was it that he hadn't gone home yet?

"I didn't feel like it." Natsume answered her unasked question as Mikan looked at him curiously. "I mean, going back home." He walked over to one of the walls and sat down, leaning against it. Mikan smiled; at least she wasn't the only one who didn't like going back to 'home sweet home'.

"Sumire-san's screaming?" She asked as a smile tugged at her lips. "You won't be finding much peace here either; when mother is upset, her screaming can be quite deafening as well, you know."

"Of course I'd know." Natsume shrugged teasingly. "You got your screaming genes from her after all?" A scowl appeared on Mikan's face.

Then a silence followed.

But it wasn't the usual awkward sort of silence that Mikan would get when she was left with other men. It was a peaceful and relaxing silence; it was the sort of silence that made it so easy for Mikan to be 'Mikan', not 'Princess Mikan'. It was just so easy to be Mikan when she was with Natsume.

"So… Natsume…?" Mikan asked as she broke the silence. "How about we… You know…?" She shrugged.

Natsume closed his eyes, his stiff posture becoming relaxed.

"You know what?"

"Why don't we play Rock-Papers-Scissors?"

Natsume opened his eyes, the corner of his lip twitched as he stared at her like she was something retarded, "What?"

"I'm _bored_." She defended herself as the heat in her cheeks started to rise. "And don't look at me like that!"

"Fine, then…" He closed his eyes again, his smirk was back. "Be bored."

Mikan's face scrunched into a frown. "You're so boring!" She pouted before going back to looking at the ornaments blankly and sulking; there was yet another silence. Then Natsume finally sighed, defeated,

"Come here, I'll give you something."

Looking up from the sparkling ruby hair comb she had been observing, Mikan eagerly crawled over to Natsume's place in the room. "So you're not going to be boring after all!" She stated gleefully as she sat in front of him, holding her hand out, waiting for him to give him whichever he had promised.

Then suddenly Natsume made scissors with his hand.

Mikan stared at it blankly, "What?"

"Scissors beats Paper; I win."

Natsume even motioned his scissor cutting through her own outstretched hand; his sardonic smirk was plastered across his face. Mikan blinked once, then twice. Then her face turned red as she protested, "Not fair, that's not fair!! Re-do!! I want a re-do!!"

Natsume shrugged as he leaned back and closed his eyes. "Feeling sour you lost, hmm?" He asked mockingly. Mikan's face wrinkled into a frown.

"Who said I was feeling sour?" She pouted. "You were the one who fouled; you knew I was going to give Paper, so you did Scissors!" She stuck her tongue out at him. "Cheater, you're the one who's the sour loser!"

He grinned. "Too bad, little princess; I still won."

And with that, he had swiftly lifted himself up from the ground and was starting towards the window, "And_ I_ thought I'd be finding some peace and quiet here at the palace, but I guess I was wrong; I forgot that _you_ lived here."

Mikan opened her mouth, offended. Then she thought better and began to plead, "No, don't go! I'm so sorry I disrupted your silence. Just stay here, I'll be quiet, it's nice to be with you, please?" She asked as she held her hand out, her palms facing towards him.

Natsume stared at this for a while before raising scissors again.

"Scissors beats Paper; I win again."

Mikan's face turned blank before turning a deep shade of red. Her face scrunched into a frown as she started to complain, "You tricked me again! You… You…!" But before she could start a tantrum, Natsume had already gone.

As the movement, that was Natsume, grew further and further away from her, Mikan couldn't help but smile to herself,

"Well, I guess Natsume will just be Natsume then."

* * *

She was Sakura Mikan.

She was the princess of Japan.

And she was getting engaged today.

And why was it, Mikan thought, that whenever that moment dragged closer that she couldn't get his, Hyuuga Natsume's, impossibly gorgeous face out of her head? She quietly closed her eyes as she smoothed her kimono out. Outside her waiting room, quiet murmuring and non-stop chit-chat could be heard; all the guests were just enjoying the moment, after all, it wasn't _them_ who were getting engaged, was it?

Mikan sighed.

Suddenly, the dimly-lit room was filled with light as the Japanese-styled doors slid open to reveal a tall figure; her fiancée, Andou Tsubasa. Mikan grit her teeth as she turned her back towards him, "It's been a swell day, hasn't it?" She asked, her remark dripping with sarcasm.

He frowned.

"Look, can we at least try to get along?" Tsubasa asked as he sighed. "It's not exactly been a smooth ride for me either."

"Then why don't you just call it off?!"

Tsubasa's hesitated before whispering, "It's not as easy as you think…"

Mikan suddenly felt sympathy towards him. Did this man already have a person he'd already given his heart to? Was he forced to get engaged to her? And was he, just like her, thinking about a certain someone right now?

"Okay, it's not that I don't like you," Mikan finally declared as she stood up from the stool she had been occupying before turning towards the full-length mirror. Tsubasa abruptly shifted his gaze on the floor, surprised. Mikan quickly cleared her throat before he would misunderstand anything, "But it's just that I don't want to be forced to marry someone I don't love. Do you get what I mean?"

"Yes, of course I do," Tsubasa smiled at her. "There's this girl named Harada Misaki; she and I've known each other since we were infants." He sighed before occupying the stool Mikan had just left. "She thinks of our relationship as mere friendship, but I've never thought of it like that. And then before I knew it, I was engaged and Misaki was congratulating me." He laughed bitterly at himself, "That sure hurt; how pathetic."

Mikan forced a smile on her face, "Don't worry, things will work out for the two of you. I'll have this engagement called off before you know it." She winked as he stared at her curiously. Mikan giggled, rolling her eyes as she answered his unasked question, "Oh, I always get things my way; I'm _spoiled_."

Then there was a pause as her face suddenly dropped.

"Spoiled…" She rolled the word around her tongue before sighing. "You know…" She started when the Japanese-styled doors opened once again to reveal a servant, who signaled their cue.

Mikan bit her lip as Tsubasa got up hastily.

"It was bound to happen some time," Tsubasa answered Mikan's horrified expression. "For us, it just happened a little faster; let's just go and get it over with." He offered her his hand.

Mikan stared at it blankly, "Do I grab this?" she asked a few moments later. Tsubasa laughed.

"Let's _go_."

* * *

"Congratulations, Princess Sakura!"

"What an honor to attend such an event…"

"Oh my, is that the princess?"

Mikan sighed tiredly, she was annoyed; it had only been 3 minutes since the party had started and she had already had to go through a dozen wishes from the guests. As she looked up from the floor, her father threw a warning glance at her that made her immediately replace the sigh with a delighted smile.

And as she turned around, she was greeted with . . .

"Natsume…!"

Mikan gasped, and then breathed out. "You scared me." She smiled a half gracious and half relieved smile before pulling him away from the center of the party, muttering under her breathe, "Seriously, you're a life saver; I almost died of boredom in there."

Finally, they stopped in the very deepest part of the garden outside and that was when Mikan felt the sudden awkwardness flow between the two; she immediately loosened her grip on Natsume's wrist. Natsume hadn't spoken a single word since she had pulled him away from the party.

"Is something the matter?"

But instead of answering, Natsume began walking towards the fully bloomed Sakura tree and started towards a thick branch; its pink blossoms were giving off a peaceful and calming aura that silenced the awkwardness surrounding both of them.

Then Mikan grunted.

"You want _me_ to go up _there_ in _this_?!" She first looked from the branch Natsume was now occupying to the tightly-wrapped traditional kimono around her, and then back to Natsume, scowling; he still did not answer. She sighed, "Fine; _I said fine_. I'll go up there if you stop pouting and tell me what the heck the matter is, deal?"

Without waiting for him to answer, she rolled up her sleeves.

And a moment later, she was on the branch, next to him "I'm here." She breathed triumphantly, a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead. "Now it's your turn."

Natsume stared at her blankly.

"I never promised anything; actually, _you_ were the one who decided for me, Princess Mikan." His smirk was back as Mikan scowled even harder, but as soon as the smirk had come, it had disappeared to be replaced with a serious expression. The crescent moon had risen up in the night sky and was glowing brightly; after a moment's viewing, Natsume finally sighed,

"I can never seem to lie to you." He muttered, defeated.

Mikan smiled; the fact that he wanted to be honest with her made her feel unexpectedly happy. "So what is it?"

"About the…" He hesitated. "Your _sudden _engagement..."

Mikan's face dropped.

Immediately pressing a finger to his lips, her tone turned begging, "…Stop. Please don't misunderstand this to have anything related to my own feelings and want. I was only informed yesterday as well, it's not like I wanted it to happen." She smiled bitterly, before lowering her hand.

Another pause followed.

"What do you think of him then?" Natsume finally asked the question that had been swimming through his thoughts; there was a tone of faintness in his voice. Mikan looked at him furiously, not wanting to answer; he patiently repeated again, "I mean… your fiancée."

"Do you mean like… like _like_?" Mikan's eyes tightened. "Well, I guess he's not that bad, but I don't guarantee I can stay with him until death does us apart, either." She sighed. "It's complicated."

At that very moment, a just-bloomed Sakura blossom fell onto Mikan's lap; she forced a smile on her lips before placing it behind her ear, "Sakura wearing a Sakura; matches me?" She asked, trying to lighten the mood. Her gaze fell on the ground below them as her smile dropped, thinking he could no longer see her face.

But when she looked up, Natsume had leaned in towards her, concern filled in his eyes, "Look at me." He whispered quietly, making Mikan bite her lip and lean backwards; her gaze immediately fell towards another Sakura blossom that had landed on her lap.

Why was her heart beating so fast and so… so _loud_?

"Look at me." He repeated once again, his voice was firmer, but still soft. Not able to stand any longer of the pressure, Mikan looked up to meet his gaze; his tantalizing eyes bore into her own. Startled, she started to look away when a pair of firm hands stopped her from looking away.

Mikan gulped.

His eyes, those startlingly beautiful crimson eyes that were staring into her own; it was like he could read every secret that she had ever hidden. "W-w-what…?" She answered, stuttering.

Natsume's eyes tightened as he searched her face; they were only a lips distance apart. His warm breath tickled her face as he spoke slowly, "What do you think of _me_ then?"

Mikan's eyes widened. "You?"

"Yes, me… Not as your bodyguard, not as anyone else but Hyuuga Natsume; what am I to you?"

"I-I…" Mikan gulped. "Well, I guess you're…"

"You _guess_?" Natsume hissed; his face went cold.

"Okay, okay!" Mikan said quickly. "I mean you _are_ a very nice and caring person and that… you know? We have a… a nice servant-and-princess relationship going?"

His face froze.

Slowly, Natsume started to pull away from Mikan as he looked away, "A nice relationship?" He repeated as a bitter smile spread through his face. "Servant-and-princess relationship?"

Mikan bit her lip.

"I guess our thoughts were different then." Natsume finally muttered; his voice was flat. "Not that it matters to me, of course; after all, you are only a _spoiled_ princess."

And with that, he had gone, leaving Mikan with her confused thoughts.

* * *

**Talk about intense, wow :'D!!**

_~ Nemesis of Truth_


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Higuchi Tachibana is the rightful owner of Gakuen Alice.

Dedication: To my Friends

--x-x--

**Doll Princess**

By: Nemesis of Truth

--x-x--

Sakura Mikan; she is the beautiful, yet spoiled, Princess of Japan. While she has an overly obsessive mother, a cold-hearted body guard, and a whole nation to rule, there's still one flaw to her almightiness. She's a-a…?!

* * *

Had she said something disappointing?

"N-Natsume…!" Mikan shouted after him as she tried her best to climb back down to the ground. "Wait, don't go yet!" In her hurry, she missed a step and tumbled down to the hard ground below.

_Crack_.

Oh lord, Mikan thought. Don't tell me that was what I think it was.

As she persevered to get back up, the sudden pain in her ankle made her wince and fall back down. Oh yes; that _was_ what she thought it was. "Darn…" She muttered furiously as Natsume continued to walk farther away from her, not even checking to see if she was fine. "You stubborn jerk…"

There was a sudden chuckle from behind her, "Stubborn jerk…?"

Mikan gasped.

"Who – oh…!" Mikan sighed. "It was you."

Tsubasa laughed out loud, "I have a name you know." He said as he sat down next to her. "Twisted your ankle? Who was that?"

"My… err…" Mikan frowned. "He's my bodyguard; Hyuuga Natsume."

"Oh."

An awkward silence flowed between the two.

Then Tsubasa sighed, "I'm sorry; it wasn't like I was intending to, but I was present through your whole conversation…" He pointed towards the bush he had been hiding in, making Mikan's face immediately drop at his sudden confession.

"Oh."

She hesitated; should she ask the question that had been bugging her since Natsume had left? Maybe he would know the answer; she chose her words carefully before asking the question,

"Did I… perhaps say something wrong to him?"

Tsubasa looked confused. "What do you mean – oh, that." He observed her curiously, "Are you really oblivious to it? You really don't know…?" He searched her face before finding the answer, he laughed, "Never mind; it's better if you don't know. It'll spare you the confusion."

"Tell me."

"But…" Tsubasa shrugged, "Okay, well, he was clearly expecting something more then what you answered him with."

Mikan frowned; furious.

"I know that!" She snapped before groaning, "But I don't get it; what did he expect? I mean… it wouldn't have changed anything about my engagement, would it have?"

Tsubasa furrowed his brows.

"It depends." He looked like he understood how she felt. "How do you feel about this Hyuuga Natsume?" It was like he knew what she was going through, the mixed feelings; Mikan felt unexpectedly comforted by this, like she could trust him with any secret she was hiding.

A smile tugged at her lips.

"Well… He's arrogant, a know-it-all, full of himself, and a complete jerk…" She laughed quietly at this before blushing; covering her mouth, she whispered, "But he's also such a great comfort to be with. Whenever I think about him, I lose myself in my own thoughts and he fills up my entire head…" She bit her lip. "It makes me feel like I don't exist; it's unbelievable, it's so surreal…"

Tsubasa closed his eyes as a wave of pain washed through him.

It was so obvious . . .

Mikan took in a deep breath, "It's just…" She buried her flaming cheeks in her hands.

"I miss him already."

* * *

"Ouch!"

Mikan looked at the thing that was supposed to be her ankle; it had swollen up to be the size of a baseball and was a dark shade of purple and heavily bruised. She groaned as she placed her cool palm to soothe it, trying to minimize the pain at least by a little. Over the night, the pain had some how doubled.

Occupied in her own thoughts, she didn't realize that someone had just jumped into the room through the window and had been observing her for the last 5 minutes. The 'someone' finally breathed in her ear, "How's the ankle?"

Her first reaction was to yelp.

Then she turned around to shove her bodyguard away from her; her first reason, because he was too close, second reason, because he was a jerk, and third reason, for being alive and ruining her life, "The ankle's just fine, thanks to _someone_."

The two glared daggers at each other.

Finally, Mikan opened her mouth to hiss, "And don't you _dare_ tell mother or father about this injury." Her voice gradually softened before she looked away. It was frightening how his crimson eyes were so lively today; it was the complete opposite of yesterdays, the ones that were cold and scary. "They'll take advantage of it and try to get me married faster then you can say 'twisted ankle."

Natsume looked at the bruise, which she defensively tried to hide, guiltily,

"Whatever."

He hesitated before putting his hands inside his pocket to grab a package which he threw towards Mikan; a pale pink spread through his cheeks, "Use that; it'll help the injury heal faster."

Mikan stared at it, open-mouthed, "For me?" She squeaked.

He merely shrugged before he turned his back towards her, leaving Mikan to silently squeal in joy. A sudden knock interrupted their peaceful silence.

"Err… Hello?"

The Japanese-styled doors slid open to reveal Mikan's fiancée, Andou Tsubasa. Natsume silently growled as Mikan waved cheerfully, "Hey! Come in, come in!" Tsubasa looked confusedly from the furious Natsume to the gleeful Mikan before he stepped into the room.

"Nice to meet you," He greeted Natsume rather cheerfully. "You are Hyuuga Natsume?"

Natsume grunted; yes.

Tsubasa's eyes immediately tightened as he leaned in towards Natsume, whispering, "Try not to hurt her like you did yesterday, would you?" He said in a rather friendly tone which didn't match his serious expression. "This is my own personal opinion, but she's too good for you."

Natsume narrowed his eyes.

Tsubasa stiffened, "Meaning, think before you act. You hurt her like you did yesterday and you wouldn't even know what hit you. She's too vulnerable, and she's too good for you."

He swiftly pulled back before walking towards Mikan.

"How's your ankle today?"

"Well, let's see." Mikan placed a finger on her chin, "Apart from the enormous bruise and the pain doubling overnight, I guess it'll be fine after I apply some medicine?" She nudged her face towards the package Natsume had handed her. No wait, scratch that; the package that Natsume had _thrown_ at her. But she was happy nonetheless.

She beamed at Natsume.

Natsume's body stiffened before he shrugged and turned away from the two; if he was around this Tsubasa guy for another minute, he was sure he would lose his mind.

He had to take action soon; he gritted his teeth.

"The princess is currently suffering from lack of sleep," He said slowly. Actually, that part wasn't a lie, he had observed her through the night and she had been restless for hours. He continued coldly, "I suggest you leave the room."

Mikan looked confused.

"What, I am not -"

Natsume's eyes tightened as he interrupted rudely, "The princess is fucking tired and would like to get some shut eye, so would you get the hell out?"

Tsubasa's face stiffened as Mikan's mouth dropped.

"Well," Tsubasa finally shrugged, his eyes twitching, as he looked at Mikan, "I'll be seeing you soon then, Princess?"

There was a silence as Mikan shot a quick glare at Natsume.

"Y-Yeah… I guess…" She finally muttered dully.

Mikan turned furiously towards Natsume as the Japanese-styled doors closed, "How dare you act so rudely to my guest!"

"Oh yes, how daring of me." Natsume said lightly as he rolled his eyes, the cold tone he had used moments ago was gone. The sudden change in his mood took Mikan by surprise; the anger within her dissolved.

"O…kay…?"

Natsume started to laugh at her response as shrugged, he – wait!

He _laughed_?!

There was a moment as Mikan looked at him with shocked silence. Then she shook her head unbelievingly. That was the first time she had ever heard him laugh so freely and without effort and… she couldn't help herself; she burst into a fit of laughter as well. "Fine, I forgive you just this once; but don't be rude to my guests a next time, or you won't be forgiven." She said, pouting jokingly.

Natsume smirked,

"Whatever." But as he turned around to leave through the window, he couldn't help but think to himself,

_But then I'll just find another way to make you forgive me, Princess Mikan…_

* * *

**Bleh, what a disgusting way to end a chapter… RxR!!**

_~ Nemesis of Truth_


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Higuchi Tachibana is the rightful owner of Gakuen Alice.

Dedication: To my Friends

--x-x--

**Doll Princess**

By: Nemesis of Truth

--x-x--

Sakura Mikan; she is the beautiful, yet spoiled, Princess of Japan. While she has an overly obsessive mother, a cold-hearted body guard, and a whole nation to rule, there's still one flaw to her almightiness. She's a-a…?!

* * *

"_You're a beautiful girl . . ."_

_Who did this comforting voice belong to? _

"_You are worthy of being the blessed child of the royal couple." The voice sighed, relieved. "Ah… I can feel it, the life I have given to you."_

_What did he mean by that?_

_A warm feeling spread through her body as someone caressed her cheeks, "You're a special one. Now, dear, try opening your eyes." She needed no more further instructions as her eyelids fluttered open for her very first time._

_Everything was blinding._

_She blinked as her gaze fell on the man sitting in front of her, his pale blue eyes flickered lively as he patted her on the head. "Adorable, I must say… You are my masterpiece."_

_A dazzling smile spread through her face, was he complimenting her?_

_A stunned silence followed._

_The man's face had suddenly stiffened at her smile. He took a rapid breath in, "S-Such resemblance…" He muttered to himself before smiling, "I'm very glad you turned out as a success, or it would've looked suspicious."_

… _Suspicious? How?_

_Her gaze wandered from the friendly face in front of her to a baby boy lying a few meters away, she tilted her head curiously before pointing at him, "Who?"_

_The man turned towards the boy. _

"_This is the will-be-son of a very noble-blooded couple; they pleaded for me to produce them a son." Like he had done to her, he caressed the boy's cheeks gently, "And that is exactly what I'm doing now. _

"_Open your eyes."_

_Without any hesitation, the boy's eyelids flew open. She gaped openly as he revealed beautiful crimson eyes, then he blinked once, then twice, and he was suddenly staring at her intently, or maybe he was more like glaring at her._

_Her eyes tightened._

_The man chuckled heartily, "Now, now…" He swiftly placed the boy next to her before observing them carefully. "You both make an unbelievably beautiful couple… A princess and a noble son; how fitting."_

_Then he sighed._

"_I hope the terrible fate of my curses do not befall the two of you." He patted both of them lightly on the head before whispering, "Now off to sleep with you both; you'll find yourselves in new homes when you wake up the next time."_

_And we will meet each other again soon in your next life . . ._

* * *

Mikan opened her eyes.

"What kind of dream was _that_?" She breathed as she sat up abruptly from her bed. The sky outside informed her that there was still a long amount of time on hand until night fell once again in Japan.

Then she looked at herself.

She was drenched in her own sweat, sticky head to toe. She wrinkled her face in disgust. "I _badly_ need a bath!" She muttered under her breath as she dragged herself painfully out of bed; her ankle was killing her.

A moment later as she was soaking herself in the warm bath tub, the images and voices from her recent dream slowly started to replay in her head. Then she gasped.

Were crimson eyes common?

If it wasn't, then that boy in her dream was . . . She shook her head. She needed a moment to think. The boy in her dreams was of high lineage and so was _he_. They both had the exact same shaped and colored eyes and their personalities seemed similar…

Mikan furrowed her brows.

"So like . . . what?"

* * *

"_Aoi, Aoi…!"_

_His voice came out hoarsely from shouting as he dashed after his sister who hadn't returned for hours after entering the forest. His parents were going to punish him heavily if something happened to her and –_

_He stopped._

_He could see his sister on the top of the hill, surrounded by beautiful flowers and tall grasses; the way she was seated, she was almost hidden from view. His ribs ached from the running as he shouted again, "Aoi; lets go home now!"_

"_Nee-san, nee-san…!"_

_He could hear his sister giggling loudly, before she continued, "I made a new friend, nee-san!" _

_A new friend?_

_He stared wide-eyed as he saw the figure behind his sister follow rather shyly. Aoi grinned widely as he took her new friend's hand and half-dragged her towards him. "She's Mi-Chan!"_

_He hissed._

_Who was this girl to be friends with __his__ sister? He leaned in closer to see her carefully._

_Mi-Chan was rather cute, though he mentally reasoned to himself that his sister was way cuter. She had chocolate brown eyes that matched her auburn hair, which was up to her shoulders. She was wearing an expensive-looking yukata that meant that she clearly from a high lineage._

"_Who are you and what do you want with my sister?" He asked slowly and clearly. It felt like they had met before; she was awfully familiar-looking._

_She merely smiled shyly._

"_I wasn't trying to do anything; she's your sister, Aoi, right?" She stared at her newly acquired friend with glee. "She's cute, and she's nice too! Actually, I've never had real friends because my mommy said I shouldn't make friends with just __anyone__ because I was too special for them…"_

_She sighed._

_Aoi stared at Mikan for a long while before she turned towards her brother, "Nee-chan, you'll marry her, right? Then she won't be lonely and we can all be together, right nee-chan?" She looked up at her brother expectedly._

_He raised a startled brow._

"_Marry her?" He frowned. _"_Do you even know what marrying is?"_

_Mi-Chan grinned._

"_As long as its better then my mommy and the palace, I don't care what marrying is!" She grinned widely before she entwined her hands with Aoi; they both looked at him expectedly. "So you're going to marry me, right?"_

_He looked from his sister to Mi-Chan confusedly._

_Then he fumed._

"_Fine," He finally muttered, "If you make my sister happy, I'm happy as well."_

* * *

"E-Err… Natsume?"

Mikan's worried head hovered over his as his vision remained fuzzy from his recent blank-out. She let out a relieved sigh before plopping down on the ground next to him.

"Thank the lord; I'd thought you passed out." She rolled her eyes teasingly, before explaining, "I found you sprawled across the ground while I was taking a walk to get some fresh air."

She breathed in deeply, enjoying the taste of nature.

Natsume's eyes tightened; Mi-Chan?

Noticing the sudden intense silence flowing from Natsume, Mikan gazed down at him to suddenly turn pink at his observant gaze. "Err, what? Is there something on my face?" She asked rather self-consciously while feeling for any signs of pimples and such on her face. Natsume's eyes narrowed even further; same shape of eyes, the same colored hair, her shy actions, her childish grin . . .

Mikan suddenly interrupted his concentration,

"So… How is Aoi-chan doing? Well, I hope?" She beamed at him. "You and her, and maybe Tsubasa, are the only true friends I've ever made… Did you know that?" She blushed as she shyly started to play with her hair

Natsume grit his teeth. Was this really Mi-Chan from his dreams? The similarities the two shared were so… like each other. But it couldn't be that Mi-Chan was Princess Mikan, right? That would be a huge coincidence; he casually sat up. But wait, when Mi-Chan had proposed to him, she had said that her mother and the palace were -…

Wait, _palace_ . . . ?

Natsume jumped up onto his feet, his eyes tightened.

"You-Palace-Mi-Chan-… What?!"

* * *

**Ha…ha ;; Now that I've given all of you this much hint, it's obvious, right? Dx**

_~ Nemesis of Truth_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: GA is NOT mine. Thank you…**

**Authors Note: I haven't updated for DAYS!!! Argh!!! And this story looks like it will not end anytime soon… What will I do?! I'm getting new ideas and I have stories to continue!!! Wahh!!! Well, plz review!!!**

**Doll Princess**

"Y-you can't be…" Natsume stared as Mikan blinked.

She frowned.

"Can't be what? A talking duck? Finish you're sentence if you started one." She whined as she started to walk ahead of him.

Natsume tried to talk, but no words would come out, making him look like a goldfish.

**Meanwhile…**

"You're highness…" The doll maker bowed as he approached the queen and the king who was walking along the gardens.

They stopped and waited for the doll maker to speak.

"The side effects are starting to show up…" Rein whispered to them as the queen yelped.

"No!!!!" She gasped. The Rein nodded. "B-but, that can't be!!! You mean s-she'll… NO!!!" She screamed.

The king quickly shut her mouth shut.

"I'm sorry. Hahaha!!!" He laughed anxiously as he glared at his wife. He dragged her away slowly to their room as Rein sweat dropped after them.

**In their room…**

"LET ME GO!!!" Yuka shouted as she bit her husband's hand making him yelp.

They started to glare as the doll maker sweat dropped some more.

"E-excuse me?" He said with a slightly raised voice.

The two stared.

"Huh?" The king asked. He suddenly realized what was happening. "Oh!!! Yes, yes!!! Please continue!!!" He encouraged him on as the doll maker hesitated.

"Eh hem… Well… I tried my best in handling the side effects by using my voice. My voice stops the side effects for some time, but it seems that it can not be hold any longer…" His voice dropped as Yuka shrieked.

"AGHHHHHHH!!!! NO NO NO NO NO!!!! NOW I CAN NOT DRESS MY LOVELY SAKURA INTO A BEAUTIFUL GIRL, AND I WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO SEE HER IN A WEDDING DRESS, AND I WILL NEVER SEE HER WITH PERFECT CURVES!!!!!!!!!! AGHHHHHHHHH!!!! IS THEIR ANY MEANING FOR ME TO LIVE NOW?!" She shrieked louder.

The king shouted too.

"NOW I WON'T BE ABLE TO HAVE TSUBASA AS MY SON IN LAW, I WON'T BE ABLE TO HUG MY LOVELY DAUGHTER, AND MOST OF ALL, I WILL NOT SEE HER WITH A CROWN ON HER HEAD!!! AGHHHHHHHH!!!! IS THEIR ANY MEANING FOR ME TO LIVE NOW?!"

The king and queen ended at the same time. They sweat dropped as the doll maker stared.

"Hahaha Hahaha!!!" The king and queen laughed nervously as they stared at each other to the doll maker. "Please continue…"

The doll maker cleared his throat and continued.

"Their earliest memories are coming back… Well, not the Hyuuga Doll, but the princess… She is remembering stuff she shouldn't have…" He mumbled as he stared at the ground.

"How do you know?" The queen asked after a long quiet silence.

The doll maker stared at her.

"You can see a small star on her pinkie fingers. That is the mark the dolls I make get when they remember their pasts. The more they now, the stars get bigger…"

The king stared glumly at the doll maker.

"Do you mean, even if she falls in love with Tsubasa, there is no chance for her to survive?" He asked.

The doll maker nodded feebly.

Just then Mikan strolled into the room.

"Mom, I want a word with you." She said as she looked at the king to the doll maker.

Her mom nodded and walked off with her daughter.

The king stared after the two, eyeing Mikan's pinkie fingers carefully. He saw a faint red on both her pinkies.

"You see, you're highness?" The doll maker pointed out as the king nodded.

"It will be soon when I have to say good bye to my girl…"

**Meanwhile…**

Mikan stopped as her mom stared at her.

"Mom, tell me the truth. Did you put a tattoo on me last night?!" She asked as she raised both of her pinkie fingers.

Her mom gave an 'I don't know' face. But in the heart, she knew that she was lying.

Mikan frowned.

"It feels like some one did poke me with a needle yesterday night." She stared at her mom for any evidence. Yuka tried her best not to sweat.

Mikan stared deeper.

"I thought this would be one of you're tricks where you want to make me prettier." She pointed at Yuka as she frowned deeper.

Yuka gasped.

"OMG, I SHOULD TOTALLY HAVE DONE THAT!!!" She shrieked and started to run for something. "CALL A TATTOOER!!! WE HAVE TO GET A TATOO ONTO THE PRICNESS!!! ASAP!!!"

Mikan ran after her mom.

"NOOOOOOO!!! COME ON, I WAS KIDDING, NO NO NO!!! I DON'T WANT NEEDLES POKING ME!!!" She shrieked after her mother as Yuka laughed.

**Meanwhile…**

"You're highness, you called?" Tsubasa asked as he stepped into the throne room. The king nodded solemnly as he motioned Tsubasa to sit.

"Is there a problem?" Tsubasa asked as he sat down.

The king looked at the ground. For a split second, there was total silence, and then he opened his mouth to speak.

"Let's break this engagement." He finally blurted out.

Tsubasa stared. He blinked.

"Excuse me?" He asked as he blinked some more.

The king took a deep breathe in.

"Let's break this engagement. There will be no but's. I'm very sorry, Tsubasa. But it can't be helped." The king sighed heavily. "I wish you were my son-in-law!!!" He whined as he stared at Tsubasa.

Tsubasa's fringes were covering his eyes.

"So, that act was for nothing, huh?" He asked as the king blinked confusedly.

"Act? What is this about?" The king asked.

Tsubasa looked up at him.

"I tried to be nice to her, because she seemed so unhappy with everything in her life. I tried to make her happy. I even acted stupid for her. But she never looked at me, always looking towards the samurai." He frowned. "My work went to nothing." He finally said.

The king started to sob.

"I'm so sorry!!! WAHHH!!!!"

Tsubasa sweat dropped.

"S-stop crying you're majesty!!!" He said sympathetically as the king sobbed harder.

"I…" The king started.

Tsubasa raised an eyebrow.

"I?" He questioned.

"I… WANTED YOU TO BE MY SON IN LAW!!!!" The king finally shrieked and ran out the room.

Tsubasa was left to sweat drop his head off.

**Meanwhile in Natsume's house…**

"Please, Sumire-chan!!! Quiet down!!!" Natsume's father tried to calm Sumire down.

Sumire shrieked more.

"WHY DOESN'T NATSUME LOVE ME?!" She asked him as she hit everything she could.

Natsume's father sighed.

"Sumire, you can't force him to love you back, can you? He was forced to be engaged to you. He can't possibly have shown you any affection signs if you have been screaming for the past 7 years of his life.

Sumire quieted down.

"Then what do I do?" Sumire asked quietly. Natsume's father sighed.

"We had better call this engagement off. You will remain childhood friends." Natsume's father concluded and walked out of the room, leaving Sumire stunned.

"That… CAN'T BE!!! TAKE THAT WORD BACK HYUUGA-SAN!!!"

**That night…**

"Has he come yet?" The king asked the queen. The queen shrugged.

"GO ASK THE SERVANTS OUTSIDE YOU DIMWITTED KING!!!" She shouted at him as she crossed her hands.

Just then, the servants shouted out,

"Hyuuga (whatever his name is) has arrived."

Yuka and the king quickly tried to look modest as possible as the man came in to the room with one swift stride.

"You called?" He asked.

The two nodded.

"Did you do as we told?" The king asked. Natsume's father sighed.

"Yes, it was a very noisy day for the Hyuugas." He sighed as his ears still ringed of Sumire's screams.

The queen apologized.

"We had no other choice… We can't leave them with any relationships when they you know… become…" Yuka sniffed. "Dolls…"

**I'm cutting it off here… It became too long… And my mom is angry this time… Argh!!! I'm so sorry for the late update… I'll try to update faster from now on… PLZ REVIEW!!!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: GA is NOT mine. Thank you…**

**Authors Note: Sorry for late update's… Damn, I just am NOT the type in staying with one story. Lol, I will try to update ASAP, but only when I feel like it… Hehe!!! Now RXR!!!**

**Doll Princess**

"We had no other choice… We can't leave them with any relationships when they you know… become…dolls…"

Yuka never realized that somebody might be hearing their conversation outside the door. Stupid her.

She never realized that her OWN daughter might be out their, listening to their conversation.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS CONVERSATION?!" Mikan shouted and bolted into the room.

Yuka shrieked and covered her mouth as her mouth hanged down widely. The king stood up abruptly and tried to get his angriest face on. And for the doll maker, well, let's just say he had the most relaxed face of them all.

"Welcome, you're highness." He greeted with a gigantic smile.

Mikan frowned.

"HOW CAN I BE A DOLL?! NO, WAIT, SCRATCH THAT, HOW CAN WE BE DOLLS?!" She shrieked her hands wide in the air.

The doll maker stared.

"I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're-" He was trying to say when Mikan cut him off.

"SHUT UP!!! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO TALK BACK TO ME? NO, SHALL I SAY, TALK BACK TO A DOLL?!" She asked sarcastically.

Now he was lost for words.

The queen slowly stood up and walked towards her daughter.

"S-show me you're hand, Mikan…" She stuttered as her eye's widened as she saw Mikan's pinkie finger.

Mikan twitched as Yuka motioned for her hand. But Yuka grabbed her anyways and started to moan.

"No… no… NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She shrieked and started to rub the pinkies. "WE WILL ERASE THIS MARK AT ONCE, REIN, DO SOMETHING, I COMMAND YOU!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Mikan pulled away from Yuka and looked at her fingers.

"W-what do you mean? There's nothing on the hands… What are you talking about?!"

Rein's eyes widened.

"What do you mean, there is clearly huge red star marks on you're smallest fingers at the moment… Are you telling me… that you can't see?" He asked.

Mikan exploded.

"MAKE SENSE YOU SENSELESS PEOEPLE!!! ARE YOU CALLING ME BLIND OR WHAT?! I AM NOT STUPID; DON'T TRY LYING TO ME, CUZ I'M NOT GOING TO FALL FOR THE FRIGGIN DAMN LIE!!!"

Rein stared at the ground and started to mumble to himself.

Mikan shouted forever as Rein tried to put the puzzle together.

Just then the king exploded.

"SHUT UP SAKURA MIKAN!!!" He shouted standing up from his chair and straightening up to look as tall as possible. "I COMMAND YOU TO GET OUT!!!"

Mikan opened her mouth to talk back but her father didn't allow that.

"YES MIKAN SAKURA, EVEN IF YOU ARE A DOLL OR A PRINCESS, GET OUT!!!" He pointed to the door violently.

Mikan mumbled some words and then stomped out the room, half shaking, and half crying.

As soon as Mikan left the king fell into his chair as Rein looked up at them.

"If she cannot see the red star that means it has already begun. The progress of turning into a doll has begun…" Rein mumbled

The king froze, Yuka gasped.

"WHY THE HELL IS SHE TURNING INTO IT SO FAST?!" Yuka asked.

The doll maker shrugged.

"Feelings have grown inside her already, the Hyuuga doll, I don't know how he's doing, but if he is not turning into a doll at the moment, it is a sure sign that he is confused about his feelings. Meanwhile, the princess is different. If she is lucky, she will have a few more months to live, but… but if she somehow… kisses the Hyuuga doll by chance, the two will surely die in an hour's time."

The king grabbed the doll maker by the neck.

"TAKE THAT BACK!!!" He hissed as the doll maker looked calm as ever.

"But you're highness; it is too late for me to do that." He replied. The king looked like he had seen death.

"WHY CAN'T YOU DO THAT?" He asked.

The doll maker looked at the ground.

"Because… All the dolls I make are cursed…"

**Meanwhile…**

'I'm a doll?! That can't be!!! No, Natsume and I CAN'T be dolls!!! I-if we WERE dolls, we wouldn't be able to feel anything, no, WE WON'T EVEN BE ABLE TO MOVE!!! I'm sure that we… AREN'T dolls…? I hope we aren't…' Mikan thought as she paced through her room.

She felt a huge headache coming and lied down on her bed. She looked at the scenery outside her window.

"Why is everything… so blurry?" She asked herself as she rubbed her eyes. She looked again, but this time, her sight was just fine. "Maybe there was some dirt in my eyes…" She mumbled to herself as she fell asleep.

Just then Natsume jumped into the room.

"Mikan? Are you there?" He asked as he dusted the dirt off his cloths. He saw Mikan on the bed.

'IS SHE DEAD?!' He panicked as he hurried to her side. But he found that she was still breathing. He smiled and then was about to leave when he noticed Mikan's lips.

'Looks so soft…' He thought to himself as he walked up to the bed and sat down on the ground. 'I wonder if I could touch it…'

He raised a finger and gently touched Mikan's lips.

"It IS soft… I never knew… girl's lips could be so…" He was trying to get the right word for it when the door opened to Mikan's room.

Who do you think it was?

No, it wasn't Yuka, it wasn't the king, and it wasn't the doll maker either. It was…

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Tsubasa pointed at Natsume as he looked at Mikan to Natsume.

Natsume stood up, glaring violently at Tsubasa.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as his eye's narrowed.

Tsubasa rolled his eyes.

"What's it to you?" He asked.

Natsume shrugged.

"Let's just say… everything?" He asked.

Tsubasa glared.

"I came to say good bye to her." He finally announced.

Natsume froze.

"What do you mean?" He asked a bit unsure.

Tsubasa's eyes froze on Mikan's face.

"Our engagement's been broken off. I've come to say good bye to her." He repeated, being more informative.

Natsume's jaw slightly dropped.

"You…aren't kidding, right?" He asked.

Tsubasa exploded.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE FUN OF ME?!" He asked.

Natsume shrugged.

"Maybe?" He replied and then sat back down on the floor.

Tsubasa glared and then stepped towards Mikan.

"Good bye, Mikan-chan." He muttered and then stomped out the room, his fringes covering his eyes.

Natsume rolled his eyes as he went back to staring at Mikan.

"Mikan, there isn't anything to block me from you, are you happy?" He asked as he grabbed Mikan's hand. He smirked. "Of course you are." He replied for her.

Then he stood up. He tried to let go of Mikan's hand, but Mikan was grabbing his hand tightly.

He smiled and then slowly pulled his hand away.

"Bye Mikan. See you later." He whispered and jumped out the door.

As soon as Natsume jumped out, Mikan opened her eyes and smiled.

"See you, Natsume."

**AWW!!! That was so sweet!!! LOL!!! But it was weird too; it went from serious to suddenly sweet. This story is getting extremely boring… WAH!!! PLZ REVIEW, EVEN IF IT WAS BORING!!!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: GA is NOT mine. Thank you…**

**Authors Note: Hehe… somebody asked for Hotaru, huh? Well, don't worry about that. I have a BIG part for her to play in the coming chapters. Lolz… wait for it!!! And an extra sorry to the late update.. sorry sorry sorry!!!**

**Doll Princess**

**Meanwhile in the throne room…**

"What curse?!" The king asked.

The doll maker sighed.

"See, you're highness…" The doll maker started.

The king looked at him angrily.

"Forget about the politeness Rein. When we're alone, you can call me by my name." The king ordered.

The doll maker apologized.

"Fine. Well, when I was young and careless and still training to make dolls, I met a Mage. He had great powers." Rein started. "I helped him out on some issues, and he wanted to pay me back."

The king and Yuka nodded intently.

"So I wished for something VERY selfish. I wished that my dolls would come to life."

Yuka looked at him, drooling heavenly to herself.

"If I've met him, I would have wished for a daughter with full curves from the beginning." She snickered to herself as the king and Rein sweat dropped.

"Anyways!" The king finally announced, a vein twitching. "Continue."

The doll maker coughed.

"Well, the mage said 'gladly, but there is one thing you will have to remember.' He said if I accepted that all the dolls I would make comes to life, they would all have a curse. And that curse, is the exact reason why the dolls I make cannot fall in love."

Yuka raised her hand.

"Me, I have a question." She said. "But WHY can't they fall in love?" She asked.

Rein looked at the ground.

"He said he was… cursed by his father from birth. So whenever he used his magic, there would be side effects. Such as when he would make an apple from thin air, there was a big chance that the apple brings death onto you."

Yuka blinked.

"That's one wicked mage." She mumbled to herself. "I must meet this mage." She added as another vein twitched on the king's forehead.

"Eh hem, but Rein, isn't there something to cure these side effects?" Yuka asked, coming back to reality.

Rein nodded.

"Yes, only if they fall out of love and love another person, it is possible. That is what the mage told me. Except, the person it falls in love with has to be a human, not another living doll."

The king thought for a minute.

"Say… doesn't… our daughter have a nice little friend?" He asked as he finished thinking and came up with one of his so called 'oh my god, its such a good plan' plan.

"What about…"

**The next day…**

"Is she here?" The king asked to Yuka desperately. Yuka's hand twitched.

"Why don't you ask the servant outside smart brain?!!!" She pointed to the door when the door opened to show none other then Hotaru Imai.

"Yes?" She asked as she stepped in and bowed.

"N-never mind…" Yuka put her hand down as she sweat dropped.

"Well...?" Hotaru asked as she looked up at them with an eyebrow raised.

The king stood up from his seat and walked over to Hotaru.

"Look, Hotaru Imai, 5th samurai of Japan, will you be willing to sacrifice everything you have for the king of Japan?" He asked.

Hotaru looked into the kings eyes and searched.

"Yes, you're highness."

**A few hours later…**

"Natsume, NATSUME!!!" Mikan shrieked as she finished tying up her hair. She quickly ran up to him who was walking the down the hallways.

"What?" He asked.

Mikan grinned.

"BUY ME A POPSICLE STICK!!!" She pointed at him evilly, her eyes clearly showed ice cream signs.

"Fine." Natsume walked off, leaving Mikan grinning stupidly.

**In the markets…**

"NATSUME, I WANT ORANGE FLAVORED!!!" Mikan shrieked.

Natsume sighed and then was about to walk up to the ice cream vender when somebody pushed him aside.

"Move over wimp." He grunted and walked off, leaving Natsume, very… VERY pissed.

"COME BACK YOU FRIGGIN DAMN RETARD!!!" He shouted, leaving Mikan totally alone… and clueless.

**Meanwhile…**

"Get back here you…" Natsume was going to repeat again when he realized he was in front of the samurai girl's store.

"What the hell…" He whispered to himself and was about to walk away when the door opened to show none other then the emotionless store owner.

"Please, do come in." She said in her most un-emotionless voice as ever.

Natsume sweat dropped.

"Did you eat something wrong girl?" He asked as he backed away.

Hotaru stepped out of the shop. She was wearing a beautiful pink kimono with cherry blossoms drawn over it. She was wearing a pink hair clip matching perfectly with the pink kimono.

"Why would I have done that? IF I had, that would have been a total insult to a samurai." She said sweetly and grabbed his hand.

Natsume glared.

"Let go." He grunted pulling away.

Hotaru gave an adorable smile.

"Aww, come on sempai!!! Come in to my shop, I've prepared peach tea right now, why don't' you join in with me?" He asked.

Natsume wrenched Hotaru's hand off of his.

"Get you're filthy hands off of me!!!" He shouted.

Hotaru didn't give her usual glare back, but she just smiled.

"You're a hard guy to get, aren't you sempai?" He asked.

Natsume hmphed and turned around to walk away. But Hotaru wouldn't let her go too easily, now, would she?

She grabbed her hands and forced him to look at her.

"Come on, come in and join me for tea. Pwetty pwease?" She tugged on his hand again.

Natsume twitched.

"Just…" He started as Mikan ran out from the crowds in the market place and spotted them. She started to run for them will all her might.

"Get out of my sight." Natsume ended as he flung Hotaru's hand away.

Hotaru flinched a little.

"Then, let me give you one little kiss you go."

She quickly gave a small peck on his cheek before she pushed the door open to go back into the store.

Before she was fully inside, she turned around smiled, and Mikan, then looked at Natsume.

"You're mine and nothing is going to change the fact that you are." She whispered only to him and then closed the door shut.

**Lolz!!! What is Hotaru up to, hehe!!! Sorry for the late update… T. T!!! I hate projects, PLZ REVIEW!!!**


	13. Chapter 13

**.Disclaimer: GA is NOT mine. Thank you…**

**Authors Note: Well, sorry for the late update… GRR!!! So many stupid projects… AND AN AUTHOR IS VISITING OUR SCHOOL!!! DAMN!!! My teacher wants everyone in 8****th**** grade to impress the author by writing a short story… SHIT!!! WHAT THE HELL?! I DON'T LIKE THIS AUTHOR ALREADY!!!**

**Doll Princess**

Natsume glared at the door as Hotaru waved a good bye and then closed the door. He frowned and then turned around to go back to Mikan when he spotted her a few meters away from her.

"M-Mikan?" He asked surprised and then started running towards her.

Mikan took a step back.

"Don't come near me…" She whispered.

Natsume stopped.

"… What?" He asked.

Mikan stared at him. Then she closed her eyes and started to run for the bulging crowd behind her to hide.

**At the castle…**

"What was that about?" Natsume mumbled to himself as he walked into the castle, pair of guards bowed to him.

"Did the princess come this way?" He asked.

One of the guards nodded, pointing towards the direction to her room.

"Thanks." He said and walked towards Mikan's room.

He didn't even knock on the door, but just walked in.

Mikan was sleeping on the bed; her eyes were all puffy and red.

_What the hell happened to her? Did she try putting eye liner and messed up or what?_

Natsume walked towards her, accidentally stepping on a book which made a big crunching sound, making Mikan flinch in her sleep.

"Natsume you bastard…" Mikan mumbled in her sleep and shifted her position, making the blanket move a little.

Natsume raised an eyebrow as he sat down next to her.

"Me? A bastard?" He smirked a little and then readjusted the blanket so it would cover her up again. "You make me laugh idiot." He mumbled as he touched her cheek delicately.

The touch made Mikan open her eyes.

"Huh? Who is that?" She asked confusedly, rubbing her eyes.

Natsume stood up and got ready to leave the room, expecting a volcano to erupt, and sure enough, in a matter of minutes, Mikan exploded.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?!" She shrieked and jumped out of her futon. "PISS OFF!!!" She screamed and slammed the door in his face.

**At dinner…**

"Mikan, you're friend is coming over to have dinner with us." Yuka announced as Mikan started to play with her food.

Mikan raised her head, and looked at Yuka.

"Who?" She asked.

Yuka giggled.

"You know." She batted her eyelashes. "Hotaru Imai."

Mikan stood up from the table, banging her hands on the table.

"Cancel it." She said calmly, even though her face showed death.

The king looked up at her with angry eyes.

"Sit down, or you will starve." He ordered.

Mikan grumbled and sat back down in her royal chair. Natsume was eating quietly next to her, his face clearly showing anger.

"But why all of a sudden?" Mikan asked, trying to control her anger. Natsume nodded silently in agreement.

"Well, I wondered who my daughter's best friend looked like." Yuka explained and then went on about planning to dress Hotaru up in a royal dress robe.

Mikan realized Natsume's hand clench into a fist as he ate with chopsticks with his other hand.

"Eh hem, mom, how about next time when I'M ready?" She asked, faking a grin.

Yuka gave her a 'don't try to get out of this' look.

"Of course," She said. Mikan was about to cheer when she added "Not."

Mikan slumped down in her seat with Natsume as one of the servants announced that the royal guest had arrived.

"Welcome, Hotaru Imai." The king greeted with a huge grin as Hotaru entered, wearing a black yukata thingamabob, the same as Natsume's.

"I am most honored." Hotaru bowed and seated herself next to Yuka, facing Mikan with a small smile.

"Hi, Mikan-san." She greeted.

Mikan grinned widely. _Why the hell did you have to come?! _

She was grinning wider, as she thought.

"Mikan?" Yuka asked questioningly. "Hello?" She waved a hand in front of Mikan's face.

"H-huh?" Mikan said dumbly and focused her eyes on her mom. "What?" She asked.

Yuka stared at Mikan.

"I think we should go to the hospital. We should fix you're nose like Hotaru-Chan." She said.

Mikan's face went red.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY NOSE?!" She asked, jumping to her feet.

Yuka looked up at her and examined again, this time, more carefully.

"Everything." She announced after examining for a long time. "If you had Hotaru-Chan's nose, you'll look like a PURRFECT girl."

Mikan growled softly as she narrowed her eyes.

"Try me." She said and walked out the room, steam coming out from her ears.

"You didn't have to do that, you're Imperial Highness." Hotaru said, practically delighted at the sight of Mikan so angry.

Yuka smiled.

"But it's so much fun making fun of her." She giggled.

Natsume looked at the two.

_True. Very amusing…_

Just then the servants announced that another royal guest had arrived.

"Ah, he's here." The king announced warmly and stood up, greeting an old man. Wait… is that Rein?!

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Natsume asked dangerously as he took his sword out.

The doll maker smiled at him.

"Is there anything wrong with me being here?" He asked.

Hotaru stood up and raised her sword.

"Please don't make me do this." She warned Natsume who lowered his sword.

"Never mind, I thought he looked like someone I knew…" He mumbled and walked out the room.

Rein gave one look at the king, and then walked out the room, heading towards a different direction where Natsume was going.

**In Mikan's room…**

"What's so wrong with my nose?" Mikan asked, as she looked into the mirror. "The person who made me wouldn't have made me ug-" She stopped as she touched her nose again.

She felt something, it was…

"Carved wood, that's what it is…" A voice said through the door.

She quickly turned around to see…

"Nice to see you again, my little Mikan." Rein Sinsagai smiled at her.

**The story's climax, I think. Sniff, I'm so sad this story is going to end soon… Well, PLZ REVIEW!!!**


	14. Chapter 14

**.Disclaimer: GA is NOT mine. Thank you…**

**Authors Note: OMG… This is the last chapter!!! (Shocked face) I have no idea what came over me these past few weeks. I was trying to get the perfect ending, for all of you, but I had NO idea what was going to happen next (Frown)… So in the end, this chapter was formed… (Sigh) I hope you like the last chapter… RxR!!!**

**Doll Princess**

"Nice to see you again, my little Mikan."

Mikan gaped at the doll maker for a moment.

Then she took a step back.

"Don't come near me…" She ordered dangerously. Her whole body was trembling with fear.

Rein stopped.

"Are you scared?" He asked. "I mean no harm, please, relax."

Mikan froze on the spot.

"I… don't… GET AWAY FROM ME!!!" Mikan shouted forcefully.

Rein sighed.

"I'm very, very, extremely sorry to do this but…" He walked up to her quickly. "I must."

Mikan's eyes widened as he laid a finger on her head.

"I am SO very sorry." He whispered into her ears as she fell to the ground lifelessly.

--------------

Natsume sat down next to the Sakura Tree as he sank in the awesome view of the clear night sky of Japan as he thought deeply.

Just then he realized something.

**Flashback (no POV)**

_Natsume was walking towards the garden where the Sakura Tree blossomed, when he heard footsteps from behind._

"_Who are you?" He asked dangerously as he took his long sword out. He looked around for any enemies or spies, but he only saw the old Doll Maker. _

"_Why are you here?" Natsume asked after checking to see if there were any traps set for him._

"_Do I have no right to go to the bathroom?" The doll maker asked as he smiled softly._

_Natsume lowered his sword._

"_Yes… Of course." Natsume pointed towards the direction where the bathroom was reserved for guests only. "Go straight until you see a turning point, there are two doors there. The first one is the bathroom, but the second one is forbidden for you to go in." He warned as he slid his sword back into its cover and walked away, frowning to himself._

_As the old man walked away towards the bathroom, Natsume looked back to see the old man's face filling with regret and sympathy as he took each and every step towards the bathroom._

**End of Flashback**

"No way…" Natsume mumbled to himself as realization hit him. The door the man was forbidden to go in was Sakura Mikan, the princess of Japan's room, and… and…

He started to run towards the room as fast as he can.

"MIKAN!!!" He shouted as he ran into the opened doorway, only to be greeted by an empty room.

Natsume shook his head in horror. "No… NO!!!" He shouted and ran out the room, trying to get to the dining hall as fast as he could.

"WHERE DID YOU HIDE HER!!!?" Natsume asked as he slammed opened the door towards the hall.

The king and queen looked at him confusedly.

"WHERE IS THE OLD MAN!?" He asked impatiently, searching the room for a pair of soft blue eyes.

"Do… you mean Rein???" The king asked as he frowned in confusion and stared at his wife for answers. "He went to the bathroom, didn't he?" He asked, turning back towards the angry body guard.

"YES, HE DID, BUT NEXT TO THE BATHROOM IS THE PRINCESS'S ROOM, AND SHE IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!!!"

The king sighed.

"She may have gone for a walk to lower her temper; after all, she IS a hot headed girl."

Natsume dug his sword into the ground.

"She NEVER takes walks when she's angry. She goes to sleep, I thought you'd know that better then me, you're majesty!!!"

The king looked troubled. He poked his wife with his arm.

"Say something, you're the big mouth." He murmured to his wife as he acted like nothing had happened.

"Uh… Uhm…" Yuka mumbled for the right words. "SHE MIGHT HAVE GONE TO THE HOSPITAL AS I RECOMMENDED TO MAKE HER NOSE LIKE HOTARU-CHAN'S!!!"

She patted Hotaru who was sitting next to her, eating the lobster dinner she so very much liked.

"YEX, OF CUS SI WUD." Hotaru said through a mouth full of lobster meat.

Natsume frowned in disgust.

"No, she likes herself perfectly the way she is." He said. "Haven't you realized that, after knowing her for more then 16 years?!" He asked.

Yuka opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, making her look like a goldfish.

"Fine, Natsume Hyuuga. Sit and we'll tell you everything." The king sighed as he motioned for him to sit across him.

Natsume glared at all of them suspiciously and sat down carefully.

"Begin, you're majesty."

------------------

Natsume ran towards the shrine of Benten, the goddess of Love, as fast as he could.

_**Mikan, wait for me…**_

**Flashback (no POV)**

_The king sighed heavily as he picked on his share of lobsters._

"_This… is hard to break to you, but… Mikan isn't our true daughter…"_

_Natsume gaped. _

"_What do you mean, you're highness?" He asked._

_The king sighed as he popped a piece of meat in his mouth and started to chew._

"_Rein Sinsagai is a doll maker; do you know this as a fact?" He asked._

_Natsume nodded eagerly._

"_Well…" The king frowned and stared at the plate deeply. "He... made Mikan… Mikan is a doll."_

…

"_WHAT?!"_

"_Natsume Hyuuga, please, calm down." The king said as he put his chopsticks down. "We have ordered Rein to put Mikan to sleep, for the time being. It is dangerous for you to be with her anymore."_

_Natsume's hand clenched into a fist as he tried to control his anger._

"_And why is that?" He asked._

"_Well…" The king looked at Yuka for help._

"_If you fall in love with her, she will die." Yuka ended, sympathy plastered on her face. "I am so very sorry, I know you have a very friendly relationship with her and all, but this will have to stop. After all, she is supposed to be the queen to be of Japan, the ruler of all the citizens, who looks up to her. If she falls in love with you, she will die, leaving us no heir." _

_Natsume tried to speak when he was interrupted by Hotaru._

"_Sempai, please, listen to them. I don't want my one and only friend to die. She is the one reason I'm still living, still breathing on this earth. I… my parents thought of me as their weapon. I hated them, I despised them. Finally, I ran away, planning to kill myself. But she was there for me. She stopped me, she loved me for who I was, not a weapon, but for me, Hotaru Imai. I… I want to repay her for her love."_

_She broke into tears as she buried her face into her hands._

_Yuka patted her lightly on the back as she looked at Natsume pleadingly._

"_I know my daughter very well… I know she would have willingly died, if you were there by her side. But… I can't bear for her to leave me just now… I want to see her rule this country." _

_Yuka broke into a fit of tears as she hugged Hotaru tightly._

_The king sighed._

"_Yuka, I think we should let Mikan be, she… deserves to decide her life after all she's gone through. We've put her through many things." _

_Yuka nodded silently as tears ran down her cheeks._

_The king stared at Natsume._

"_Go to the shrine of Benten, I believe she will be waiting for you there." He said as Natsume ran out the room in a flash. _

_The doll maker looked back at the retreating figure as he bowed himself in..._

"_Your Highness, do you really think this is a decision to make?" The doll maker asked._

_The king nodded forcefully._

"_Yes, I believe so. They were destined to be together, let them be."_

**End of Flashback…**

Natsume stood in front of the beautifully laid out shrine as he breathed heavily.

"Mikan… are you in there?" He asked himself as he opened the door to see Mikan lying in the middle of the great room.

The goddess's statue stood in the front, looking over them both.

He ran over to the lifeless body of the princess of Japan and touched her cheeks to see if she was warm.

She was.

"Thank god Mikan, thank god!!!" He shouted happily as he hugged her tightly.

He didn't realize, but there were tears' rolling down his cheeks, onto Mikan's flushed cheeks.

Mikan's finger twitched.

"M-Mikan?" He asked as he stared at the finger.

A few moments later, Mikan opened her eyes hazily.

"W-Who are…?" She blinked. "NATSUME!!!"

Natsume grabbed her into a tighter hug.

"You idiot, I thought you were… d-dead…" He said in a tough voice, his fringes covering his tear marks.

Mikan sighed.

"Natsume, are you crying?" She asked.

Natsume shook his head feebly.

"Why would I cry over… s-such an idiot like **you**?" He asked as he turned away to wipe his tears.

Mikan smiled softly and cupped his face in her hand.

"Look Natsume, you **are** crying." She murmured softly as Natsume tried to turn away.

"**Don't.**" She said forcefully. "Don't hide from me."

She wiped his tears with her hand and then kissed him.

------------------

Meru: Had a happy ending happened? I don't think so… (Sorry to all happy ending lovers)

------------------

A searing kind of pain spread into both bodies as their lips met.

Mikan shrieked in pain as she pulled back and hugged her self.

Natsume looked at Mikan as he too, was engulfed in pain.

"M-Mikan…" He said weakly as his vision blurred. He reached out for her. "Don't… ever leave me…" He murmured as he grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. "Don't ever… Because…"

Both of them took their last breathe.

"I love you."

**-----------------**

**God, I'm CRYING right now… This is so… sniff T.T!!!!! Of course, there is an epilogue to this. Please wait for it. It will be posted soon. Review please T.T!!!**

**I want to thank all those who have waited for this last chapter and reviewed till the very end. I love you all!!! Thank you, thank you, and thank you once again!!!**

_**-xXMeruPuriXx-**_


	15. Chapter 15

**.Disclaimer: GA is NOT mine. Thank you…**

**Authors Note: ****The epilogue is up!!! T.T!!! Thanks to everyone who sticked with the story and me till the very end. Thank you very much!!! And I am SO sorry that I didn't reply to you're reviews… (Sweat drop) Actually, my PM thingy broke or something, so I can't receive any, on top of that, I can't reply to any -.-!!! I hate my computer (GRR!!!) **

**Oh, and this is a reminder, but Natsume and Mikan are _'dead'._ Sorry, but that was to be their fate when I started to this story, so don't be made at me, please?! Anyways, hope you enjoyed the story and RxR till the very end!!! YAY!!!**

**Doll Princess**

_**A thousand years later…**_

"And that is how; the shrine of Princess Mikan was made." An old man with a crown on his head explained to a girl with auburn hair and matching orbs, about the age of 11.

"That's so sad." The girl said with a teary face and started to cry.

"Aww, come on, Mikan. You were named after this princess; you should be strong like her!!!" The king encouraged.

Mikan nodded as she wiped her tears forcefully.

"Daddy, is this a real story?" She asked.

The king nodded.

"Yes, do you want to know what happened to the king and queen after the two died?" He asked after a moment.

Mikan nodded eagerly.

_The king stepped into the shrine the next morning with his wife close behind him, her eyes puffy and red._

"_I-Is she there?" She asked._

_The king searched the shrine, but there were no bodies, neither any dolls._

"_No, she isn't here." He answered, frowning to himself. He turned around and faced the doll maker. "Rein, explain."_

_The doll maker looked around the shrine, confusion plastered on his face._

"_I have no idea what happened." He answered after a few moments. They looked up at the statue of the Goddess Benten._

_The statue's emotionless face came into view, as they searched for any answers. The goddess's lips curled up into a small sweet smile._

"_L-Look!!!" Yuka pointed out towards the smile. "S-she's __**smiling**__."_

_Indeed she was._

"_W-what the…?" The king was about to ask when they found something lying on top of the goddess's lap._

"_What is that?!" The king pointed as he walked towards it._

_He stopped as he examined what it was. It was a portrait, of Natsume and Mikan. They looked happy together, hand in hand._

"_I think we made the right decision, don't you think Yuka?" He asked as he examined the portrait with sad eyes._

_Yuka burst into tears again as she saw her daughters face._

"_I still had so much planned for her!!!" Yuka said. "I wanted to get her to have plastic surgery, and then I wanted to see her with a crown." She started to count on her fingers the stuff she wanted to do with Mikan._

"_Hmm… a tattoo wouldn't have been a bad idea, but she already had one on her pinkies." She thought to herself out loud as she finally counted to her 103802nd one._

"_Ok, you can just shut up now." The king said, sweat dropping heavily._

_Yuka puffed her cheeks out. She was crossing her arms when she heard a baby crying._

"_Wahh!!!" It shouted. Yuka turned around towards the sound, it was coming from the statue itself. "LOOK!!!!" She pointed as she ran towards the baby placed on the goddess's lap, right next to the portrait._

_Yuka grabbed the baby gently in her hands and started to rock it back and forth. _

"_It's going to be ok." She cooed as the baby stopped crying. _

_The king stepped closer._

"_How adorable… It looks just like our daughter, but it has ruby eyes." He looked puzzled. _

_Yuka smiled to herself and thought:_

'_**You are SO having plastic surgery… Oh, and a tattoo too. :D"**_

"That's how the royal couple got another heir to lead their blood line." The king finished. "Now little princess, its bed time. A princess needs her beauty sleep, doesn't she?" He asked wagging his finger at her.

Mikan nodded her head and stood up to get into bed.

"Good night my little angel." He said with a peck on the forehead and walked outside.

"Oh, and one more thing." He said, stopping in his way. He turned around to face his daughter who peeked her head out from the blankets eagerly. "You're getting a body guard tomorrow."

…

"WHAT?!"

------------------------

**Haha!!! I enjoyed writing this last chapter :D!!! Oh, do I feel sorry for that baby -.-, hehehehe... There was a little bit of a hint in that place where I described the baby's appearance. Guess who the parents of the baby is :P Natsume and Mikan!!! YAY!!!**

**Hehehehehe, god, now I feel depressed -.-, im having my mood swing ♬!!! O.O!!! Hohoho, plz review!!! I'm going to miss this story so much T.T!!! Thank you's to all the people who have reviewed and stuck to the story till the very end!!! ♡**


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